Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Tehran is ready to cooperate with other countries provided that they are “sincere” in their approach toward Tehran.
Addressing crowds in the northwestern city of Tabriz, Ahmadinejad said Iran embraces “constructive” interaction with the world. “Iran is a nation supportive of peace and friendship and backs constructive cooperation on the international arena,” he said. Tehran is therefore ready to cooperate with the international community in different arenas including the revival of economy and the establishment of stable security across the globe, he added.

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama called German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday to offer warm congratulations on her sweeping reelection victory, the White House said.

Obama and Merkel “agreed that with the election of a strong German government, our cooperation will further strengthen and deepen,” according a statement released by the White House press office.

“The United States and Germany are close allies, and partner together around the world to promote freedom, security and prosperity,” the statement read.

Obama “looks forward to continued close cooperation with Chancellor Merkel to address our common challenges in the years ahead,” it added.

Preliminary results showed the 55-year-old Merkel’s conservative Christian Union bloc (CDU/CSU) as the clear winners with about 33.5 percent of the vote.

MINGORA: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that Pakistan Army and the government in collaboration with the local masses curbed the menace of terrorism in picturesque Swat valley.

Addressing the dignitaries of Swat at Saidu Sharif Monday, the PM who arrived here on a day-long visit praised the courage of local people with which they faced the hardships in the months-long battle against militancy in the region.

“I salute the internally displaced persons who offered sacrifices in the greatest interest of the country and nation in the time of need,” the PM said.

The PM also assured the locals of all possible help and assistance from the provincial and federal governments in their rehabilitation in their native areas.

The PM said that the government is sincere in implementing the promised- “Nizam-e-Adl Regulation” in Malakand division, saying that all possible and available “legal and constitutional” means would be used for the purpose.

BEIJING: A powerful typhoon killed eight people, toppled houses, flooded villages and forced nearly 1 million people to flee to safety on China’s eastern coast before weakening into a tropical storm Monday.

Named Morakot, the storm struck after triggering the worst flooding in Taiwan in 50 years, leaving dozens missing and bringing down a six-story hotel. It earlier lashed the Philippines, killing at least 22 people.

Morakot, or emerald in Thai, slammed into China’s Fujian province Sunday afternoon as a typhoon carrying heavy rain and winds of 74miles (119 kilometers) per hour, according the China Meteorological Administration.

At least one child died after a house collapsed in Zhejiang province. By early Monday, the storm packed winds of 52 miles per hour (83kilometers per hour) and churned at about 6 mph (10 kph), it said. Hundreds of villages and towns were flooded and more than 2,000houses collapsed, the official news agency said.

About 1 million people were evacuated from China’s eastern coastal provinces.

Taiwan’s Disaster Relief Center said Morakot killed 12 people and another 52 were missing, including 14 people whose makeshift home was swept away. Two policemen were washed away while helping to evacuate villagers in southeastern Taitung county.

In Japan, meanwhile, Typhoon Etau slammed into the western coast Monday. Nine people were killed in raging floodwaters and landslides and nine others were missing, police said.

In the northern Philippines, the death toll from Morakot rose to22 Monday with 18 injured and four missing, including three European tourists who were swept away.

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information andBroadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that there is no evidence that Osama Bin Laden is present in Pakistan and those making claims of his presence in the country should provide actionable proof of it.

If our coalition partners have any suggestions for improving our actions against the terrorists they should convey it to us instead of making assumptions, he said in response to the statement of a Western diplomat, who had said that Al-Qaeda’’s leader Osama bin Laden and his second in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri might be hiding in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

“Al-Qaeda and Taliban have threatened Pakistan, attacked our security forces, killed innocent civilians and targeted our leadership. We are therefore, combating terrorism in our own interest. We do not want our efforts to be undermined by hypothetical assumptions”, he said.

The Information Minister said that in the war against terrorism Pakistan has sacrificed more in terms of human life than the combined loss of Afghan army and ISAF.

“We have deployed three times more troops on our side of the border to interdict terrorists. Our law enforcement actions in Swatand Malakand have been very successful. We have a record of doing more than any other single country in the war against terrorism”, he added.

Qamar Zaman Kaira said that for the success of Pakistan’’s counter-terrorism endeavours, it is important to focus on effective cooperation and coordination rather than going to press and making hypothetical statements that would further complicate its ongoing efforts to fight Al-Qaeda and other terrorist elements.

The basis of our cooperation with our partners is well-defined and well-understood. All counter-terrorism measures inside Pakistan will be taken by our own security forces, he said.

“We are committed and will take firm action on the basis of information gathered by us through our own means or concrete and actionable intelligence shared with us,” he added.