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Reuters 01/02/2010
Taliban fighters should drop their demand that U.S. and NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan before peace talks can be held, President Hamid Karzai said on Sunday, saying talks would make it easier for troops to leave.
Karzai is hoping to launch a peace initiative this year, but Taliban fighters have long said they are willing to negotiate only if more than 110,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan leave the country first.
Karzai said the Taliban's insistence on a withdrawal of Western troops before any talks was "not a meaningful gesture."
"The international community is here for success in defeat of terrorism, success in the defeat of extremism," Karzai told a news conference. "Therefore, they have to be satisfied that they have achieved their objective before they can leave."
The Taliban should "return to their own country and work for peace in order for us to be able to have the U.S. and other forces to be able to have the freedom to go back home," he said.
At a conference on Afghanistan in London last Thursday, Karzai called on militants to take part in a "loya jirga" -- or large assembly of elders -- as a start to peace talks.
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Associated Press 29/01/2010
DETROIT - A prominent Islamic singer accused of concealing ties to a terrorist group was duped into believing the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development worked only for needy people, his lawyer said Thursday.
Mohamad Masfaka, also known as the singer Abu Ratib, agreed to remain jailed in Detroit while his case moves through federal court.
Masfaka, 47, is charged with making false statements to the FBI, perjury and attempted fraud in naturalization proceedings. The government alleges he was the Holy Land Foundation’s Detroit-area representative in 1997 and 1998, but failed to mention his employment in a 2002 application for naturalization.
The U.S. government labeled the foundation a terrorist group in 2001, alleging it had provided money and support to Hamas, a Palestinian militant group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. in 1995.
"He acknowledges he worked for (Holy Land) as a singer," defence lawyer Doraid Elder said outside court Thursday. "It’s not cut and dried to say he was employed. Was he affiliated? Yes. ... He was duped. People who donated money thought it was a noble cause."
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Associated Press 29/01/2010
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa pledged Thursday to seek reconciliation with minority Tamils after his sweeping re-election, but did not indicate how he plans to deal with their demands for greater rights.
Critics said the balloting showed the country's ethnic divisions that fueled decades of war were again near a breaking point, with many minorities apparently voting for the opposition or staying away from the polls.
Rajapaksa won a second term in office Tuesday, defeating his former army chief by 17 percentage points in the first presidential election since his government defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels and brought an end to decades of war.
The opposition candidate, former army chief Sarath Fonseka, cried foul. He said the government had manipulated the results and said he will challenge the results in court.
The United States congratulated Rajapaksa on his victory. A U.S. Embassy statement also urged authorities to ensure the safety of all candidates and campaign workers.
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Associated Press 29/01/2010
LONDON — Major world powers opened talks Thursday seeking an end to the grinding conflict in Afghanistan, drafting plans to hand over security responsibilities to local forces and quell the insurgency with an offer of jobs and housing to lure Taliban fighters to renounce violence.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai greeted delegates from about 70 nations and institutions in London, seeking to win new international support after more than eight years of combat which is threatening to exhaust public good will in the West.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen also joined talks aimed at setting targets to transfer security control of several Afghan provinces to the local police and military by the end of 2010.
"This is a decisive time for the international cooperation that is helping the Afghan people secure and govern their own country," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, opening the one-day talks. "This conference marks the beginning of the transition process."
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Associated Press 28/01/2010
Yemen risks providing a permanent new haven for al-Qaida without urgent help to rebuild its deteriorating economy, quell internal revolts and bolster work to tackle terrorism, foreign ministers warned at a global meeting Wednesday.
Talks in London involving about 20 nations offered backing for plans to bolster Yemen's fragile government as it wrestles with a deepening threat from global terrorism, a Shiite insurgency in the north and a secessionist drive in the south.
In a joint declaration following a two-hour meeting, ministers warned that Yemen's problems could threaten the stability of Arabian Peninsula if they go unchecked.
"The challenges in Yemen are growing and, if not addressed, risk threatening the stability of the country and broader region," ministers said in their statement.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Yemen's instability poses "an urgent national security priority," to the United States and other nations, urging swift political and economic reforms aimed at addressing crippling poverty, food and water shortages and mass illiteracy.
"To help the people of Yemen, we — the international community — must do more," Clinton told a news conference following the talks. "The government of Yemen must also do more. This must be a partnership if it is to have a successful outcome."
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