FBI mole had contact with bin Laden years before 9/11: US media

WASHINGTON: An informant working for the FBI had contact with terrorist leader Osama bin Laden eight years before the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, The Washington Times and NBC reported.

An FBI mole inside the al-Qaeda terrorist network met with bin Laden and knew that he wanted to finance attacks.

The FBI informant had worked as a driver and a confidant of the radical Egyptian preacher Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind shiekh serving life in prison for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center in New York. Rahman allegedly told the informant "If you need money, go directly to Osama and tell him that I sent you."

According to the reports, neither Congress nor the 9/11 Commission knew about the mole despite extensive investigations into the attack, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

The 9/11 Commission made serious accusations against the FBI and the CIA. It said during the administration of president George W Bush and his predecessor, Bill Clinton, there were 10 missed opportunities to uncover plans for the attacks. (Monitoring Desk)

Bin Laden son-in-law on trial

A US district court has opened proceedings against Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden's son-in-law. The terror trial is expected to last around one month, with the first few days dedicated to picking a 12-person jury.

District Judge Lewis Kaplan asked a pool of almost 50 prospective jurors a series of questions on Monday, seeking to whittle their numbers down to 12. All of the candidates said that they did not know the accused, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, while none answered in the affirmative when Kaplan asked if anybody had never heard of al Qaeda before. The court is expected to pick its dozen jurors by Wednesday. Owing to the nature of the case, the 12 jurors and their alternates will remain anonymous.

Sometimes referred to as the group's "spokesman," Abu Ghaith is accused of providing assistance to al Qaeda and conspiring to kill US citizens, and is among the highest-ranking members of the terror group to face trial in the US.

The prosecution was planning to show a picture which allegedly shows the 48-year-old seated with bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders on September 12, 2001. Another key submission from the prosecution is a video broadcast from October 9 that year, in which the cleric said that "the storm of airplanes will not stop."

Abu Ghaith, who has pleaded not guilty and could face life in prison, worked as an imam in his native Kuwait before moving to Afghanistan and joining al Qaeda in 2000. He then married one of bin Laden's daughters, Fatima.

The decision to try Abu Ghaith at a civil court on US soil, as opposed to a Guantanamo Bay military tribunal, has courted some criticism from US lawmakers. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham voiced concern of setting a precedent "that will come back to haunt us later."

Abu Ghaith was taken into US custody in Jordan last year; the details on his arrest and whereabouts in the years after the September 11 attacks remain hazy. The defendant himself submitted a court affidavit saying he was arrested in Iran in 2002 and was held in captivity there until 2013. Abu Ghaith said he was then moved to Turkish detention, before being flown to Jordan and handed over to US authorities.

Egypt tightens grip on mosques to curb insurgents dissent

Amnesty International says crackdown on pro-Morsi supporters have already left more than 1,400 people dead. PHOTO: FILE

CAIRO: Egypt’s military-installed authorities are tightening their grip on mosques by laying down the theme for the weekly Friday sermons, in the latest move to curb insurgent dissent.

The controversial measure comes as Egypt remains deeply polarised after a government crackdown on supporters of president Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed by the army last July.

Morsi’s supporters have since capitalised on the weekly prayers to garner backing for their protests calling for his reinstatement.

The authorities accuse insurgent groups, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood to which Morsi belongs, of using mosques to spread their ideology and enrol new recruits across Egypt.

The religious endowments (Waqf) ministry in late 2013 dismissed 55,000 imams who did not hail from the state-controlled al-Azhar university, the most prestigious institution in Sunni sect.

They were accused of “inciting violence and using mosques to spread religious extremism and promote insurgent groups”.

Amnesty International says the crackdown on pro-Morsi supporters have already left more than 1,400 people dead since his ouster.

In January, the ministry, which has nearly 120,000 mosques on its list, decided to unify the Friday sermon by setting a common theme for the weekly prayers.

“The latest procedures aim to prevent incitement to violence and the spread of lies in mosques, which were being used by the Brotherhood to spread their ideas and fool people,” ministry official Sabry Ebada told AFP.

The decision was also taken to “spare mosques from political fights”.

Scuffles have often broken out between pro- and anti-Morsi camps during Friday prayers, particularly when the sermon appears to favour one side over the other.

But now imams have government-approved themes such as squatter settlements, the role of youth, employment and the environment.

“The ministry’s decision is aimed at controlling the militants current supporting the Brotherhood at a time when many imams feel sympathetic towards the Brotherhood and Morsi,” said Amr Ezzat, a researcher with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

“Mosques are the scene of an ongoing battle between authorities who are trying to prove that their policies are in line with Islam, and the current of political Islam which is trying to strip the state of its religious legitimacy.”

But not all imams are toeing the government line, and Ezzat said the ministry had “no tools allowing it to impose its control over all mosques.”

Khalaf Massoud, imam of Montazah mosque in Cairo’s working-class neighbourhood of Imbaba, has talked of what is “right and wrong” in his Friday sermons, in a reference to the ongoing political strife in Egypt.

“The state is adopting measures to secure backing through religious preachings. This is unacceptable,” Massoud told AFP.

“I am an imam who follows religion, not an imam who follows power.”

After last Friday’s sermon, four Cairo imams were being investigated by the ministry for “inciting violence and calling for anti-government protests,” ministry official Ebada said.

The control of mosques, many of which run their own charities, is important for both sides, said Georges Fahmy, an analyst with the Cairo-based Arab Forum for Alternatives.

These places of worship are “channels through which public opinion is formed,” particularly in Upper Egypt and the Nile Delta, both rural areas, he said.

And the control of mosques is vital for militants to air their views since the authorities have shut down many of their television stations, Fahmy added.

Each week’s theme is published on the ministry’s website and also passed on to imams by their local waqf offices in Egypt’s 27 provinces, said Mohamed Abdel Salam Badr, imam of a northern Cairo mosque.

Worshippers are divided over the measure.

“I am against unifying the sermon,” said engineer Bahaa Marwan, as he attended a sermon at Assad Ibn al-Furat mosque, a stronghold of pro-Morsi Salafi preacher Hazem Abu Ismail.

“The intention is political and the objective is to silence dissent.”

Another worshipper, Ahmed, agreed, saying the aim was “to make people listen only to what the government has to say”.

But Mahmoud Hussein, a 53-year-old electrician, backed the move.

“The government is trying to defuse the situation by silencing those who are inciting violence,” he said.

Senior US official heads to India to revive strained ties

Nisha D Biswal says countries must sort out their differences of opinion through healthy and vigorous public debate. PHOTO: FILE

NEW DELHI: A senior US official headed to India on Tuesday, admitting that the two countries had “real challenges” to overcome as they try to move on from an ugly diplomatic dispute earlier this year.

Nisha D Biswal, the Indian-born US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, will be the most high-profile US visitor to New Delhi since the row over the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York in December.

Devyani Khobragade was arrested and strip-searched on suspicion of visa fraud involving her domestic servant.

The detention and treatment of the envoy sparked one of the worst rifts in years between the world’s biggest democracies and led India to take a series of measures targeting US embassy staff and interests in January.

Several planned trips between Indian and American officials have since been cancelled and a fresh trade dispute has further complicated a relationship that had grown closer over the last decade.

Writing in The Times of India newspaper ahead of her three-day trip, Biswal said that while there had been significant progress in ties, “that does not mean our relationship does not have real challenges to overcome.”

She said the countries must sort out their differences of opinion through healthy and vigorous public debate that “befits our values”.

While bilateral trade has grown in recent years to touch almost $100 billion a year, Biswal said it was time to create a more open environment to boost commercial exchanges.

She also touched on the contentious issue of intellectual property rights, calling on India to provide stronger patent protection.

Last month New Delhi reacted furiously to a threat of sanctions by the US Trade Representative’s office over India’s allegedly weak protection of intellectual property rights and preference for domestic producers.

“Stronger enforcement of intellectual property and patent protection is not just good for American companies but will also protect India’s entrepreneurs, content creators and investors,” Biswal wrote.

Washington said last month it was filing a second case at the World Trade Organisation over domestic content requirements in New Delhi’s solar programme.

Putin says Russia can use 'all means' in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on during a press conference in Moscow, on March 4, 2014. PHOTO: AFP

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday defended Russia’s right to use “all means” to protect its citizens in Ukraine but denied he had already deployed troops there, as the West pressed Moscow in a Cold War-style standoff over the ex-Soviet state.

His comments, which calmed frightened markets somewhat, came as US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kiev for talks with interim leaders.

“We are going to help you. We are helping you. President Obama is planning for more assistance,” Kerry told the crowds as he visited a shrine to commemorate those killed in Kiev’s uprising last month.

Washington said it will provide $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine, while the European Commission said it would on Wednesday also offer an aid package reportedly worth more than one billion euros.

The United States and the European Union also warned Russia would likely face sanctions as early as this week if Moscow did not de-escalate the situation.

There was no immediate sign of an end to tensions in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, however.

Pro-Moscow forces remained in de-facto control of the strategic Black Sea territory that has housed the Russian Black Sea Fleet since the 18th century.

The scale of the tensions was underlined on Tuesday when a Ukrainian officer said Russian forces surrounding an air base in Belbek near the Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol fired warning shots at Ukrainian servicemen trying to approach.

Putin, speaking to journalists in a news conference televised live, denied Russian forces were involved in the armed operations in Crimea that started late last week.

“No, they did not participate,” he said. “There are lots of uniforms that look similar.”

However he stressed that “we reserve the right to use all means to protect” Russia and Ukrainian citizens, though an invasion would be “an extreme measure”.

He said there was currently “no need” to send troops into Ukraine.

At the same time, he dismissed the authority of Kiev’s new government, saying Ukraine’s toppled president Viktor Yanukovych remained the “legitimate” leader. Yanukovych, he said, had requested Russian military action in Ukraine.

Putin’s comments about Russian use of force were interpreted by markets as a possible easing of the worst crisis in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

European markets bounced back from deep losses suffered on Monday, when fears of war breaking out on Europe’s eastern edge had taken hold, axing more than 10 percent of the value of shares trading in Moscow and sending the Ruble to historic lows.

Moscow’s two main exchanges were up more than five percent on Tuesday while the ruble regained some of its value a day after the central bank had to spend billions of dollars on keeping the struggling currency from suffering even steeper losses.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index rallied 1.4 percent in mid-session deals. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 jumped 2.0 percent and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 2.3 percent.

The dollar and euro also clawed back some of Monday’s losses against haven currency the yen as a degree of confidence returned to the market. Gold and oil prices fell from multi-month highs.

Russia’s state-controlled energy giant Gazprom said it would end a discount it gives Ukraine on gas prices from April but proposed a loan of up to $3 billion to Kiev to cover its debt.

The West indicated Tuesday it would not let up its pressure on Russia.

A US official travelling with Kerry to Kiev said Russia was “likely” to face US moves to introduce sanctions as early as this week.

EU foreign ministers on Monday, condemning Russia’s actions, had warned that ties with Moscow were at risk unless it reversed course and took steps to de-escalate the crisis by the emergency summit of EU leaders on Thursday.

Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk will travel to Brussles to meet the EU leaders before the summit.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is due to meet Lavrov in Madrid on Tuesday and then go on to Kiev on Wednesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called threats of sanctions were “ill-advised”.

“Our position is honest and… will not change,” Lavrov told reporters during an official visit to Tunisia.

“We have always opposed the policy of unilateral sanctions. I hope our partners understand that such actions are counter-productive.”

Beyond sanctions, though, the United States and its allies appear to have limited options in dealing with Putin’s actions on Ukraine, which many saw as a bid to rebuild vestiges of the Soviet empire.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned there was no solution in sight after a “difficult” discussion in Geneva on Tuesday with Lavrov.

“I can’t run up a flag to say that we are on the way to finding a solution and that Ukraine and Russia are about to start talking,” he added.

Foreign Secretary William Hague, meanwhile, insisted that Britain’s options in dealing with Russia over the Ukrainian crisis remained open after an official document suggesting London was opposed to trade sanctions was photographed in a senior official’s hand and made public.

Hague did not deny the content of the briefing paper. But he insisted that Britain’s options remained “very much open”.

Turkish telecom giant expresses interest in Pakistan spectrum auction

Rahman highlighted the upcoming auction for 3G and 4G, LTE spectrum provided enormous opportunity for any investor given that 98% of Pakistani population is yet to be connected with broadband services. CREATIVE COMMONS

BARCELONA: Turkcell, one of Turkey’s largest cellular mobile operator and recently awarded the “dream partner” global mobile award, expressed interest in the upcoming spectrum auction in Pakistan.

According to a press release issued by the government on Monday, State Minister of Information Technology Anusha Rahman met the top brass of Turkcell on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona where the finer points of the upcoming spectrum auction were detailed.

Rahman highlighted the upcoming auction for 3G and 4G, LTE spectrum provided enormous opportunity for any investor given that 98% of Pakistani population is yet to be connected with broadband services.

As an incentive, MoIT said spectrum in the 850MHz band has been made available for new entrants to provide them level playing field in addition to the 1800MHz band for speeding up the proliferation of 4G services in Pakistan.

Turkcell expressed keen interest in the auction and showed intent in sending a high-level delegation of Turkcell to visit Pakistan to study the market closely.

The Turkcell CEO Sureyya Ciliv shared initiatives which telecom giant had undertaken to disseminate e-services in Turkey, particularly in areas of e-health and e-education.

Despite its stock being downgraded from “buy” to hold on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, its Chairman Ahmet Akça said they consider Pakistan a flourishing market offering a potential for investment in telecom sector.

The meeting included Turkcell’s chairman, CEO, and business chief officer Dr Tayfun Cataltepe. The Pakistani delegation included the IT minister, IT secretary, PTA chairman, telecom member and FAB executive director.

Increase trade with Brazil.

FCCI believes that the trade delegation will prove a catalyst for bilateral trade relations, further economic opportunities, and produce people-to-people contact. PHOTO: FILE

FAISALABAD: 

A high-profile delegation of Faisalabad businessmen will leave for Brazil to try and capture the lucrative business opportunities available for Pakistan, Faisalabad Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) President Engineer Suhail Bin Rashid said on Monday.

Rashid said that sending such delegations in order to improve bilateral trade should be made a regular practice, adding that this year FCCI is focusing on regional and non-traditional trade.

“The prime objective of the trade delegation is to strengthen economic ties and promoting bilateral trade to optimum level of both countries,” said Rashid. “Brazil has great potential for enhancing bilateral trade with Pakistan being the world’s sixth largest economy, eighth biggest consumer market, one of the fastest growing major economies, moderately free markets and an inward-oriented economy,” he added.

Rashid said that there is potential for the export of Pakistani fabrics, bed sheets, yarn, sports socks, garments, farm implements, and business related computer services, while raw cotton, soya bean, soya bean oil, paper, lumber, iron scrap, sugar and ethanol machinery can be imported from Brazil. Pakistan’s bilateral trade with Brazil was only $278.18 million in 2012, which is far below compared to the economy size and trade volume of both the countries with the rest of the world, Rashid said.

Chairman of the International Affairs and Trade Delegations FCCI Jamil Ahmad said that Brazil has a GDP size of about $2.5 trillion (2012). Brazil, with a population of 192 million inhabitants and a 92% literacy rate, is the most populous and largest country in Latin America with an area of 8.5 million square kilometres (the 5th largest in the world), Ahmad said. Brazil’s total trade volume is $466 billion and its per capita income is about $12,000.

“Brazil and Pakistan have long entertained warm and friendly ties. So far nine bilateral agreements have been signed and both are coalition partners in numerous multilateral negotiations, including the liberalisation of international trade,” he added.

“I am very confident that the delegation to Brazil will respond overwhelmingly to bilateral trade promotion and strengthening of economic ties between both countries to an optimum level,” Ahmad said.