UK to start talks with armed Syria opposition: Downing St

UK to start talks with armed Syria opposition: Downing St

LONDON: Britain is to begin talks with armed opposition groups in Syria as it seeks to help end the violence, Prime Minister David Cameron's office said Wednesday. The government has authorised officials to have contacts with military representatives of the groups, Downing Street said, although government sources stressed the initiative was about political dialogue, not providing weapons.

Drug authority bill adopted PML-N aborts anti-militants call in NA

ISLAMABÆD:Amid confusing signals over the possibility of a military operation against Taliban bases in

North Waziristan in the wake of the shooting of Swat’s schoolgirl activist Malala Yosufzai,the Pakistan Muslim League-N aborted on Tuesday a new govern-ment-backed resolution in the National Assem

by calling for action against militants.But before fiery and sionate move,period of comparative cordiality when the PML-N conceded to the deletion of a single word from a government bill seeking

the establishment of a new drug regulatory authority,leading to its unanimous adoption, after government support enabled a similar passage of a PML-N member’s private bill seeking to abolish discretionary quotas in public sector housing schemes in Islamabad.As the PPP-led coalition failed to achieve a house consensus on the resolutionwhich a source said only called for “practical measures”against militants in general terms in reaction to the Oct 9 shooting claimed by Taliban, the move was given up even without the draft being moved or read out before the house was prorogued after a 12-day session.Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan,the leader of opposition in the house, who took the floor

twice over the issue, repeatedly accused the government of not implementing most of the previous unanimous parliamentary resolutions and said the new one was being brought as a precursor to a

military operation in Waziristan while Swat’s fugitive Taliban leader Maulvi Fazlullah, who is generally

considered as the mastermind of the Mingora attack, was living in Afghanistan.But PPP chief whip and

Religious Affairs Minister Khursheed Ahmed Shah rejected the charges, noting that there was no mention of Waziristan in the resolution,and offered the PML-N to make any changes in the draft, or move one of their own.But the PML-N was in no mood to buy the idea as it appeared getting closer to an anti-operation stance taken by the Defence of Pakistan Council of hard-line rightwing groups and Imran Khan’s

Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf. And the ruling coalition also was hesitant to move a resolution without a consensus of all parties in parliament, amid reports of apparent dithering even by military commanders after initial expressions of a resolve to act in concert with an international outcry against the attack.

TRADE-OFF ON BILLS:Earlier, in an apparent trade-off in leg is lative business, the government backed 

Vaccinator killed in Quetta attack By Our Correspondent

QUETTA: A vaccinator died when a team of polio vaccinators came under attack near here on Tuesday.

The attack took place near Rindgarh on the outskirts of the city.The All Pakistan Paramedical Staff Federation has con demned the attack anddemanded arrest of the killers.Addressing a press conference, president of the federation Abdul Samad Raisani reminded the government of its responsibility to provide security to teams engaged in anti-polio campaigns to ensure success of the vaccination programme.Officials said the attack highlighted resistance to the country’s immunisation campaign, adds AFP.The shooting happened a day after a three-day campaign was launched across the country, senior government official Tariq Mengal said.A team of male and female vaccinators was engaged in a door-to-door campaign to administer polio drops to children below five years of age when unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead a male volunteer, he said.”We are investigating if the deceased had any dispute with the attackers or the shooting was carried out by opponents of the campaign,”

Australia to honour Tendulkar

NEW DELHI: Indian cricket great Sachin Tenckilkar

is set to receive a rare civic honour from long-time on-field rivals Australia.Prime Minister Julia Gifiard said here on Tuesday during her first visit to India as Australia’s leader that Tendulkar was to be made an honorary member of the Order of Australia.

The diminutive 39-year-old batsman has scored more runs in Test and limited-overs cricket than any other player and is adored by fans in India and across the cricket world. He already has received the highest praise possible for a cricketer in Australia, with the great batsman Don Bradman reportedly telling his wife before he died that Tendulkar reminded him of

himself.Gillard told reporters Tendulkar helped strengthen thebond between Australia and India.

Malala will need reconstructive surgery: hospital director

BIRMINGHAM: Malala Yousufzai is making progress in a British hospital, doctors said on Tuesday, as police turned away visitors claiming to be relatives.The 14-year-old girl, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in Mingora last week,was in a stable condition on her first full day in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham after being flown to the city in

central England in an air ambulance.The hospital’s medical director David Rosser said she had had a “comfortable night”.“We are very pleased with the progress she’s made so far,” he told reporters. “She is showing every sign of being every bit as strong as we’ve been led to

believe.“Malala will need reconstructive stirgery and we have international experts in that field.” He said doctors at the highly specialised hospital — where British service personnel wounded in Afghanistan are treated —were beginning to plan for the complex procedures but they would not be