Islamabad, February 1
The US observer group, which was planning to monitor the February 18 elections in Pakistan, has cancelled its involvement citing election-day security concerns, local media said today. Daily Times quoted a Washington Post report as suggesting that the group did not believe that the security environment was such that it could do the things it would like to do.

Thomas E. Garrett, the International Republican Institute’s election expert on Pakistan, said in a report that the potential for suicide bombings and general acts of violence made it impossible to monitor the vote or evaluate the outcome with credibility.

The report said international presence in the February elections was now limited to 100 observers from the European Union, a few foreign politicians, and “small teams pulled together from embassies in Islamabad.”

“There may be only slightly more than one observer per million voters,” it said.

The report said the Bush administration had acknowledged that “the voting procedures are flawed”.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party has taken a dim view of the restrictions placed on the International Republican Institute’s operations in Pakistan by the regime.

Condemning the non-renewal of visas for senior IRI officials as “a step aimed at shutting down international organisations that seeks to assist in building democratic institutions”, PPP’s central information secretary Sherry Rehman said the party would strongly resist such a move to dismantle the free movement and activities of the IRI in Pakistan.

The IRI had been conducting independent poll on a variety of issues that were fundamental to channelling public opinion in a transparent manner.

Their registration is under threat of revocation by the Pakistan government, which is an unprecedented step for an organisation of international repute to face.

She said visa status of top IRI officials had been subject to arbitrary and restrictive renewals almost on a monthly basis.

“We are very clear that the regime is trying to confuse the issue by saying that the IRI itself wants to leave. This is absolute nonsense, as their officials have documented evidence asking for permission to stay in Pakistan.” — UNI

Islamabad, February 1
Senior Al-Qaida commander Abu Laith al-Libi was killed this week along with other militant fighters in a US missile strike in Pakistan, a website linked to radical Islamic groups has reported.

Reports have suggested that Libi was among seven Arabs and five Central Asians who were killed in a missile strike on a house at Khushali Torikhel village in Pakistan’s troubled North Waziristan tribal area early on Tuesday morning. Local residents claimed the missile was fired by an unmanned spy plane operating from Afghanistan.

Militants retrieved and buried the bodies on Wednesday and did not let local residents approach the house. The Pakistan Army said it had no information on who was killed in the attack.

Caretaker interior minister Hamid Nawaz Khan said there had been an explosion in a home where Taliban fighters were staying but their bodies were buried before they could be examined. Therefore, it could not be said with certainty that Libi was among the dead, he told reporters.

But the Al-Fajr Information Centre, a website linked to Al-Qaida, reported Libi’s death yesterday. The website said “Sheikh Abu Laith al-Qassimi al-Libi was martyred with a group of his brothers on the soil of Muslim Pakistan.” Libi is believed to be the first major Al-Qaida leader to have been killed or captured in Pakistan in almost two years.

Libi, which means “the Libyan” in Arabic, was seen as a key link between Al-Qaida and the Taliban. He had become an influential commander in recent years, overseeing operations against US-led forces in Afghanistan. — PTI

Baghdad, February 1
Powerful blasts, one of them triggered by a female suicide bomber, killed more than 60 people as they ripped through two Baghdad pet markets today, leaving trails of bloodied body parts, officials and witnesses said.

The police said the woman suicide bomber struck in the popular Al-Ghazl pet market in central Baghdad mid-morning as hundreds of people were out enjoying the Muslim weekly holiday, killing 46 people and wounding 82.

Some bodies were packed into bags and put in the back of police pick-up trucks. Identity cards, watches and prayer beads retrieved from the scene were placed in a box. The pet market blast echoed across the capital at around 10 am (1230 IST). A second bombing about 20 minutes later rocked a pet market in south-eastern Baghdad Al-Jadida neighbourhood, which was also crowded with people on the Muslim weekend, security officials said.

At lest 18 people were killed and 25 wounded in the Baghdad Al-Jadida blast, the officials said, raising the day’s death toll from the two bombings to at least 64. — AFP

London, February 1
Britain has announced a hike in its immigration fees to fund sweeping changes it plans to introduce to improve border security over the next 12 months.

The proposal introduced in the House of Commons yesterday comes just weeks before the introduction of a new points based system for managing migration.

The system is aimed at ensuring that only workers with skills to benefit Britain’s economy come to the UK and puts in place a licensing system for businesses who want to recruit from overseas.

The fee for Highly Skilled Migrant T1 (General) Programme, which is popular among Indians, will go up from £400 to £600.

The fee for work permit visa and Visitor visa (long term) will be increased from £200 to £205, while the settlement visa will go up from £500 to £515.

The visitor visa will go up from £63 to £65.

Expressing confidence that the aspiring immigrants will not be deterred by the hike, Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said: “We believe that it is fair that those who benefit most from using our immigration system should help fund it. — PTI