INDIA MUMBAI: The Anti-Terrorism Squad(ATS) of Maharashtra State Police apprehended two persons in Mumbai for allegedly plotting to blow up storage tanks of the state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.
Talking to media, chief of ATS said that these two militants planned to target three locations in Mumbai. He informed that the two nabbed were identified as Abdul Latif and Royas Ali, both had contacts in Pakistan.
Security in Mumbai has been tight since a bombing in neighbouring Pune city last month that killed 16 people, the first major militant strike since the 2008 attacks on Mumbai. Mumbai is hosting several Indian Premier League cricket matches featuring Indian and international players.

A key militant commander among two others killed during a clash with security forces in Swat.
On a tip off, the security forces carried out an operation at Khawazakhela and killed militant commander Naseeb Zada and two of his accomplices namely Khalid and Jaja.
Security forces have also recovered huge cache of arms from their possession. The killed militants belonged to outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, praised the efforts of Pakistan Army in eliminating terrorists, since last ten months.
I think you have heard it said by pundits that Iran has gone from being a theocracy to a thugocracy, Petraeus, whose command stretches from Egypt to Pakistan and includes Iran, said in an interview on CNN. Most recently, the Pakistanis have stepped up their efforts and arrested a number of high-ranking Afghan Taliban commanders. Petraeus said critics needed to appreciate the gains made in Pakistan and “the limits again to how much more can be done until these gains have been solidified. Petraeus appreciated the commitment and sacrifices made by the security forces, armed forces and the people of Pakistan in eradicating militancy and terrorism.

At least 10 people were killed and eight others sustained injuries as a suicide blast rocked Tal Bazaar in Hangu, Dunya News reported on Friday. According to sources, a suicide bomber rammed an explosives laden vehicle into a security forces convoy near a petrol pump. Contradictory reports are being told about the death toll. Commissioner Kohat said that 12 people have been killed in the blast while 10 casualties are confirmed by the hospital sources.
Security forces cordoned off the area after the blast. Injured have been shifted to CMH where condition of some of the victims is stated to be critical.

MOHMAND AGENCY: At least 30 terrorists have been killed in the shelling of the security forces on a house in the area of Pandyali in Mohmand Agency, official sources confirmed.

The two gunship helicopters of Pakistan armed forces targeted the house in the area after the security forces got the information of the presence of the terrorists there.

Three key Taliban commanders including Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, Qari Zia-ur-Rehman and Commander Fatih were among the killed terrorists.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday and Lula expressed his willingness to talk with world leaders about Iran’s nuclear standoff in an effort to establish a peaceful solution.
Lula and Clinton attended a closed meeting and shook hands after the hour-long conversation. Earlier on Wednesday, Lula told reporters that Brazil would support Iran if it used its nuclear technology for peaceful ends and said the international community should not “push Iran into a corner.” On the other hand, after a meeting with Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Clinton said she believed Iran would only negotiate in good faith with the international community after sanctions are imposed. Lula and Clinton also discussed climate change, US’ relations with South American countries and a possible visit of President Barack Obama to Brazil. Clinton’s trip to the South American giant was aimed at winning support of Brazil, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, for moves to sanction Iran over its nuclear program, which Western powers fear is designed to produce atomic weapons.

Foreign Minister of  Saudi Arabia Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Sunday he was heavily concerned with growing insecurity in Pakistan and urged Islamabad to collectively fight militancy. Al-Faisal’s remarks came after he held talks with an Indian leaders in Riyadh.
“Pakistan is a friendly country to us and therefore any time that one sees a dangerous thing in our friendly country, one is not only sorry but worried. We believe it is the duty of all political leaders in Pakistan to unite together, to see that extremism should not find its way to achieve aims in the country. And this can only happen by a united political leadership in Pakistan and we hope that this will be achieved,” al-Faisal told a news conference attended the Indian delegation.
Al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani militants have carried out numerous attacks on members of the security forces over the past couple of years. They stepped up strikes after the army launched an offensive on their main bastion in South Waziristan in October last year.
The Pakistani Taliban, allies of the Afghan Taliban, have lost much ground in the army offensives over the past year. Pakistani action against militants on the border is seen as crucial for efforts to bring stability to Afghanistan, where the US forces are spearheading one of NATO’s biggest offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Security forces have also carried out several other operations aimed at pushing back militants threatening towns and cities such as Peshawar, the main city in the northwest.
Al-Faisal distanced his government from the Taliban insurgents. “There is no relation between Saudi Arabia and Taliban. Relations were abrogated when Taliban gave sanctuary to Al-Qaeda and since that time till today there has been no relationship between Taliban and Saudi Arabia and that indicates the seriousness we give to that issue,” he said. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were among the few states, which recognised Taliban government in Afghanistan, but severed ties after 9/11 when Taliban provided safe havens to Al-Qaeda. Saudi Arabia is also worried about growing penetration and increased leverage of Al-Qaeda in adjoining Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine.

BAGHDAD : A suicide car bomb exploded Thursday outside the gate the main government compound in the capital of Iraq’s Anbar province, killing at least 12 people, including four police.

The province, where al-Qaida-backed Sunni insurgents once held sway, has seen a rise in attacks against security forces and government officials in recent months. The incident also comes amid fears that next month’s elections will stoke political violence.

The attacker blew up his explosive-packed car outside the gate of a compound housing the governor’s office, police headquarters and courts, the security official said.

The blast also wounded at least 20 people, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Anbar is primarily made up of Sunnis, who enjoyed a privileged status under Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-led regime. It was the site of some of the war’s most intense fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents in the key cities of Ramadi and Fallujah.

The government compound in Ramadi was once the scene of daily attacks during the height of the insurgency in 2005 and 2006, with the governor hunkered down in his office protected by a platoon of U.S. Marines while insurgent mortar shells rained down.

In 2006, many former insurgents began to rebel against al-Qaida, and joined forces with the U.S. military, who paid fighters to participate in the pro-government Sons of Iraq program.

The decision by the Sons of Iraq to join forces with U.S. forces to combat al-Qaida is seen as one of the key reasons for the drop in violence in Iraq.

Insurgent attacks continue, however, and may even be on the rise. On Dec. 30 twin bombings in Ramadi killed 23 people and badly wounded the governor.

Iran is becoming military dictatorship: Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton has accused Iran of becoming a “military dictatorship” with a scathing attack on the growing influence of the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard.

In a clear signal Washington intends to make Iran’s military hierarchy the prime target of a new round of United Nations sanctions, the US Secretary of State warned the elite unit had effectively mounted a silent coup.

“We see that the government of Iran, the supreme leader, the president, the parliament [are] being supplanted and that Iran is moving towards a military dictatorship,” she said in a blunt assessment delivered to students in Qatar during a three-day tour of the Arabian peninsula. “I fear the rise of the influence and power of the Revolutionary Guard poses a very direct threat to everyone.”

The Revolutionary Guard is viewed by many as the dominant political, economic and military force in the country. With over 120,000 men under its command, it has become the bedrock of the Iranian regime, protecting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country’s president who was once a Guard officer himself.

Since Mr Ahmadinejad’s controversial re-election last June, it has further cemented its power by using its feared Basij paramilitary wing to lead the suppression of protests by the opposition’s so-called Green Movement.

So brutal were the Basij’s tactics that Britain and France yesterday led calls demanding an independent investigation into the post-election violence amid renewed allegations of widespread torture and even extrajudicial execution of political dissidents. Besides its political influence, the Revolutionary Guard has also caused international alarm because of its control over Iran’s missile programme.

More than half of the Iranian cabinet is filled with ex-Guard veterans, and US National Security Adviser James Jones has said sanctions against it could “well trigger regime change” in Iran.

But It is the Revolutionary Guard’s vast commercial empire that will be in America’s sights for sanctions.

Since it was founded to protect the regime in 1979, the Revolutionary Guard’s business empire has grown to such an extent that some believe it controls a third of the Iranian economy. With annual revenues of at least £8 billion, it is regularly awarded lucrative state tenders for oil and gas development and has interests ranging from construction, to car manufacturing and banking.

There are many targets to choose, and it is understood that Mr Obama is likely to seek a freeze on the international assets of more than 100 companies linked to the Guard.

By concentrating a fourth round of UN sanctions on the Revolutionary Guard, US officials believe a wedge will be driven between the Iranian people and what they call Iran’s “entitled class”. It is a risk strategy, however, as hundreds of thousands of Iranians are employed by firms linked to the guard.

International patience with Iran ran out last week when it resumed uranium enrichment, a move seen as an effective rejection of diplomatic efforts to end the impasse over the country’s nuclear programme.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has since claimed that Iran now has the capability of enriching uranium to a purity of 80 per cent, close to weapons-grade level.

As Mr Obama stepped up his efforts to win support to punish Iran, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, travelled to Moscow to take up the sanctions cause with the Kremlin.

US officials say Russia’s patience with Iran has run out and predict that Moscow – which watered down the three previous rounds of sanctions – will support a new UN resolution.

With Russia on board, the United States hopes China, which also holds a Security Council veto, will follow suit.?

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads Saturday to Qatar and Saudi Arabia to build the US case for tougher sanctions over Iran’s nuclear plans in meetings with key Arab and Muslim leaders.

Clinton will also pursue the Obama administration’s bid to promote Arab-Israeli peace and “turn the page” on ties with Muslim countries — the latter in a speech to the US-Islamic World Forum in the Qatari capital Doha.

She is departing a day later than planned after her husband Bill Clinton, the former president, had a heart operation on Thursday, but the delay will not cause her to miss any of her meetings, State Department officials said.

Clinton may ask the Saudis — whom she sees Monday and Tuesday following a speech to the US-Islamic World Forum — to offer the Chinese increased oil supplies to try to win Beijing’s backing for sanctions against Iran.

China imports much of its oil from Iran.

“I wouldn’t rule it out that that might be part of the discussions,” a senior State Department official told French news agency when asked whether the chief US diplomat would make such an appeal to the Saudis to win over China.

China appears to be the sole holdout to sanctions among the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, which is also composed of the United States, Russia, Britain and France.

Moscow has hardened its stance toward Iran lately.

During her stop in Riyadh, Clinton is set to meet Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud and Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal. She will meet other Saudi officials in the Red Sea port of Jeddah.

In Doha, she is to meet Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatar’s emir, and Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, who is both foreign minister and prime minister.

“Middle East peace will be an issue that will be discussed. Iran certainly will be an issue that is discussed,” Crowley said while declining to enter into details about either topic.

She will also hold similar talks with leaders attending the seventh US-Islamic World Forum, including Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Crowley told reporters.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will, according to a Turkish diplomat, visit Iran next week to push for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear stand-off.

Iran said on Tuesday that it had started the process of producing 20 percent enriched uranium.