Al Qaeda May Use FATA Land For Recovery in 2009

Al Qaeda may vacate Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas where it has found safe haven due to sustained loses the terror outfit has suffered since 2008.
A US intelligence report prepared for Congress shows how a concerted military effort to uproot al Qaeda from FATA has weakened the group, the US blames for the September 11 terrorist attacks.
“In Pakistan’s tribal areas, al Qaeda lost significant parts of its command structure since 2008 in a succession of blows as damaging to the group as any since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001,” the Dawn quoted the report, as saying.
“Sustained pressure against al Qaeda in FATA has the potential to further degrade its organisational cohesion and diminish the threat it poses.”
Exploring the possibility that the losses sustained since 2008 could force aAl Qaeda to vacate FATA, the report notes: “It is conceivable al Qaeda could relocate elsewhere in South Asia, the Gulf, or parts of Africa.”
The terrorist group would look for a place where it could “exploit a weak central government and close proximity to established recruitment, fundraising, and facilitation networks,” the report adds.
“But we judge none of these locations would be as conducive to their operational needs as their location in Fata.”
The US intelligence community also points out that if forced to vacate FATA and locate elsewhere, al Qaeda would be vulnerable to US or host-country security crackdowns as well as local resistance.
It probably would be forced to adopt an even more dispersed, clandestine structure, making training and operational coordination more difficult.

13yrs old Alfie is Not Real Father

London: Schoolgirl Chantelle Steadman, 15, has blasted claims that her boyfriend Alfie Patten, 13, is not the real father of her daughter, and that she had also been bedded by other teen boys when the baby was conceived. She was reacting to the claims made by two other youngsters-Richard Goodsell, 16, and Tyler Barker, 140-who bragged that they could be the fathers of the newborn Maisie.
“There has been no one else,” the Sun quoted the tearful girl as insisting.
“I love Alfie. I lost my virginity to him. We decided to start a physical relationship because we love each other. There has been no one else,” she added.
Alfie, who looks like an eight-year-old, came to known that Chantelle was pregnant when he was just 12.
He supported Chantelle’s claim that no one else could be the baby’s father.
“Other stupid boys are lying,” he said.
Chantelle, who still wears school uniform, added: “Cruel things have been said but I am just trying to look after my baby and ignore them.”
Her family has also ridiculed claims that she had slept with other guys.
“I have never seen her so upset. To know that people are saying things like that about her is destroying her,” said her mother Penny, 38.

Australian FM Stephen Smith arrives Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Australian Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith has arrived on a three-day visit to Islamabad February 16-18.

According to foreign Office this will be the first visit of a top-level Australian official after Prime Minister John Howard had visited Pakistan in 2005.
Australian Foreign Minister during his stay here would be meeting his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani and Interior Minister, Rahman Malik.The Australian foreign minister in his separate meetings would discuss matters of mutual interests regional and international issues.
Pakistan must win confidence in India by effectively fighting terrorism within its own borders, Australia's foreign minister talking to Australian radio in Canberra said Monday at the outset of a visit to Islamabad. Australia, a staunch ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, plans to reinforce U.S. President Barack Obama's message to Islamabad that Pakistan cannot provide safe haven for terrorist forces.He said Australian and Pakistani defense chiefs would meet before July to discuss Australia training more of Pakistan's military officers in counterinsurgency.

New education policy to be announced on March 23

ISLAMABAD, The New Education Policy will be announced on 23rd of next month, which will help eliminate inequality in the education system, Minister for Education Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani said.“The draft of the policy has been formulated in lines with international standard and as per PPP’s manifesto”.He said the draft had been given to provincial governments and after consultations with all the stakeholders it would be announced.
“Work on 29 subjects for the new syllabus has been completed, while on others it is in progress,” the minister said.
Mir Hazar Khan said a ten per cent quota would be allocated for poor students in private institutions at A and O levels, adding that the government would bear all the expenses in this regard.He said there were a large number of ghost schools in the country and efforts were being made to make them functional, while stern action would be taken against those responsible for these.The minister said that attention was being focused to raise the standard of education in the country and for this purpose special cadre was being set up for imparting training to teachers.
To a question about shortage of teaching staff in the country he said inductions were being made in institutions in the federal capital, while all the provincial governments had also been asked to fill vacant posts on merit.