Saudi Arabia, gulf countries celebrating Eid-ul-Azha today

RIYADH/DUBAI: Saudi Arabia and gulf countries are celebrating Eid-ul-Azha today (Tuesday).

The UAE's close proximity to the Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, makes the Eid all the more exciting in the country. It is during the Eid that the Muslims complete their Haj pilgrimage.

Dubai expects 65 million pilgrims from around the world this year. It will be a transit point before they travel to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, the closest city to the Mecca.

During the Eid holidays, amusement parks such as Dubai's Global Village or the car-leisure complex Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi remain open for longer duration, while Dubai's major shopping malls will remain open round the clock.

The Dubai government is offering free parking Oct 13-18, and the Dubai Metro will run till 3 a.m.

All UAE government employees have been given a week's holiday, starting Sunday.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan wished good health and happiness to people on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha

Uncertain path to 2014

 

Uncertain path to 2014

For some time it seemed that Afghanistan had slipped from Washington’s top priorities as the Obama administration became preoccupied by political gridlock at home, as well as fast moving developments in the Middle East and terrorist threats in Africa. But Secretary of State John Kerry’s weekend trip to Kabul signalled that the US still had important business to transact in Afghanistan. The visit was impelled by urgency to secure a security deal that would allow for a post-2014 US military presence in that country.

After a year of negotiations between Washington and Kabul, the continuing stalemate on a bilateral security agreement (BSA) made the US deadline of October to conclude the deal appear increasingly elusive. In recent months both countries also began to engage in a public game of brinkmanship. Each side threatened to walk away from talks if the other didn't yield on areas of disagreement.

As President Hamid Karzai’s public statements became more strident, leaks in the American media suggested that if no agreement were reached, the US would exercise the ‘zero option’ of complete withdrawal from Afghanistan. Last week President Barack Obama himself declared that without a BSA he would have to order a complete troop pullout.

Against this backdrop, Secretary Kerry’s unannounced visit to Kabul ended in agreement on most of the terms for a BSA. But a key sticking point remained unresolved: legal immunity for American forces from prosecution in Afghanistan. This meant that despite progress achieved in two days of lengthy talks no final accord emerged.

President Karzai announced that the immunity issue would be decided by a Loya Jirga, which he planned to convene next month. It will then be placed before Parliament. And Kerry made it clear that “If the issue of jurisdiction cannot be resolved, then there cannot be a bilateral security agreement.” In another indication that other matters remained to be finalised, Karzai said there were several “small issues” and “technical points” he had yet to review.

This left an air of uncertainty – and many unanswered questions. When would Karzai, who steps down in six months, call the Loya Jirga? He has already postponed this twice. Would the Jirga endorse the deal, especially in the middle of the country’s election season? Registration of presidential candidates ended earlier this month for elections due in April 2014. With the BSA still not signed, could it end up as an election issue? If Kerry’s trip was timed to avert this possibility it is unclear how any more delay – over remaining hurdles – will play into campaign politics and shape the outcome.

Although the exact terms of what has been described as a ‘partial deal’ have yet to be announced, an important and consequential question is how the BSA will affect future efforts to revive Afghan peace talks, given that the Taliban’s main demand is withdrawal of all foreign forces from their country. In his Eid message, Mullah Omar rejected the proposed agreement, saying that Afghans would never accept a “document of surrender” rubberstamped by a “fake” Loya Jirga.

There is also no regional consensus on a long-term US military presence. Most regional states, especially Iran, Russia and China, have misgivings even if there are also concerns in the region about a possible security vacuum after 2014. These regional concerns have yet to be addressed much less resolved, because there is no final security document or details for neighbouring countries to take firm positions on. Delay on this count will shrink the space for much needed regional diplomacy.

As no agreement has been concluded this leaves Karzai with room to manoeuvre and raises another possibility. What if President Karzai plays the BSA down to the wire to bargain for postponement of elections? However improbable, the possibility cannot be ruled out, especially as senior Afghan officials have privately been musing over a postponement, ostensibly by a “few months”, which they claim is constitutionally permitted.

Any postponement will however be unacceptable to all the Afghan opposition groups, provoke internal discord, and also jeapordise Nato’s exit strategy. American officials say Washington would oppose any postponement. They also argue that after Kerry’s visit, Karzai cannot long drag out the BSA issue by prevaricating on the Loya Jirga or manipulating it. But it is yet to be seen how the US will resolve the immunity issue without a trade off, if Karzai uses delaying tactics. What will that trade off be?

And what would be the implications, especially for Afghan reconciliation prospects, if all energies continue to be consumed by efforts to conclude the BSA, to the virtual exclusion of addressing other aspects of the transitions ahead? Uncertainty has already deepened about the political, economic and security transitions because the most important prerequisite for their achievement is nowhere in sight – peace talks for a political settlement to end the war.

Valuable time has been lost to prolonged wrangling between Washington and Kabul on the BSA. This has also exacted a heavy price – delaying if not derailing peace efforts. It was in June that Karzai suspended talks on the BSA in protest against the US for orchestrating the opening of a Taliban office in Qatar. A promising start to a possible peace process was stopped dead in its tracks by Karzai’s calculation that Washington needed a BSA more than anything else. He linked the two issues and insisted that unless he was at the centre of any dialogue with the Taliban he would not let it proceed.

Since June, there have been no serious efforts to revive Doha, even though Taliban representatives have not left Qatar and their spokesman have reiterated willingness to pick up the threads from where they were left off.

Islamabad has repeatedly urged Washington not to abandon the Doha option. The US balked at Pakistan’s proposal, offered a few months ago, for “pre-talks” to resolve misunderstandings that led to the diplomatic debacle at Doha. But as securing the BSA became the overwhelming American priority, the peace process was pushed to the back burner. That is where it remains today. With the security deal taking precedence, the US has not wanted to risk annoying Karzai by taking any initiative to resuscitate the Doha process.

Meanwhile the modest improvement in Pakistan-Afghan relations after Karzai’s August visit to Islamabad has done little to move the reconciliation process forward. Given the Taliban’s refusal to talk to the Karzai regime, Pakistan’s release of a senior Taliban leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar, on Kabul’s request, is unlikely to change that dynamic. The indications are that any meaningful move towards political reconciliation may have to wait for the post-Karzai era.

If the presidential election is held on time then another question is whether this process itself can produce political engagement with the Taliban as various contenders seek to cut deals and build alliances. More importantly, can the Taliban be persuaded not to disrupt the election, in the absence of any peace process? So far Taliban representatives have rejected the election. Mullah Omar reiterated this in his Eid message and urged people not to participate in what he dubbed a “drama”. It is conceivable that if peace talks had taken off in June some kind of accommodation may have emerged to ensure the elections went off peacefully.

With none of this resolved, doubts have intensified about a smooth and orderly path to 2014 and beyond. Muddle through seems to mark the US-led coalition’s approach to the looming transitions. What throws all three milestones into uncertainty is the lack of serious efforts towards a negotiated political settlement to put an end to fighting ahead of 2014. This was supposed to serve as the foundation for a peaceful transition in 2014 and to help assure the country’s post-2014 stability.

With time running out for progress on this count, the danger looms of turmoil and instability in post-2014 Afghanistan. No one may want that outcome, least of all Pakistan, but Islamabad will have no choice but to prepare itself to deal with the fallout.

Obama summons leaders for debt ceiling crisis talks

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama called top congressional leaders to the White House on Monday to demand they stave off the threat of a "devastating" US debt default that would rock the global economy.

Obama will meet top Republican and Democratic Party chieftains at the White House at 1900 GMT to push for Congress to raise America's borrowing authority before a Thursday deadline and to reopen the US government -- now partially shuttered for two weeks.

The meeting comes as hopes rise for progress after Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid predicted a deal was getting "closer" though time was fast running short.

Despite massive stakes for Washington and the world, there was still no clear indication whether a compromise could encompass competing power centers on either side of the deepest rift yet between Obama and his Republican rivals on Capitol Hill.

Obama was to meet with Republicans, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate minority boss Mitch McConnell, and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and the party's House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

"If Republicans aren't willing to set aside their partisan concerns in order to do what's right for the country, we stand a good chance of defaulting and defaulting could have a potentially have a devastating affect on our economy," Obama said.

During a visit to an anti-poverty charity in Washington, Obama said he would tell the leaders to "open the government and urge them to make sure that the United States government is paying it's bills."

He said the impasse could be solved "today" if Republicans, whom he sees as the main obstacle to a deal, cooperate.

If Congress does not raise the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling by Thursday, the US government will begin to run out of money and could start defaulting on its obligations.

Initiatives in both the House of Representatives and the Senate stalled over the weekend. The Politico news organization however reported Monday, however, that Reid had offered a compromise plan to McConnell.

The initiative would raise the debt ceiling for six to nine months and the government would be reopened until mid-to-late December.

The proposal would launch long-term budget talks between Democrats and Republicans, and could include a delay of a medical device tax used to help pay for Obama's health care reform law.

Reid did not confirm the terms of a deal but told reporters "we're working on everything.

"We're getting closer," he said.

Should the Democratic-led Senate coalesce on a deal, the question would then become could Boehner secure sufficient support from his restive conservative coalition in the House to send it to Obama's desk?

The uncertainty was mirrored on Wall Street. Increasing concern over the fiscal showdown pulled the Dow Jones Industrial Average down early on, but amid talk of negotiations on Capitol Hill it had recouped most of its losses by midday trade.

Republican Senator Roger Wicker told MSNBC he was hopeful of seeing "something meaningful by the end of the day" from the Senate talks.

"There are sweet spots that Republicans and Democrats agree on," he said.

Around the world, however, signs of alarm were mounting.

China and Japan -- which between them hold more than $2.4 trillion of US debt -- have urged Washington to get its house in order.

China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying took a chance in Beijing to wag its finger at Washington.

"The United States is the largest economy in the world and we hope that it can show its responsibility," Hua told reporters.

Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer warned of dire consequences if there was no solution.

A default would be "a thunderbolt on the financial markets" that would set off "extremely violent and profound turbulence worldwide," he told the daily Le Figaro.

In Asia, markets in Sydney, Seoul and Singapore were down in part over the deadlocked talks. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Jakarta were closed for public holidays.

On Asian currency markets the dollar weakened, buying 98.25 yen against 98.59 yen in New York late Friday.

"So far, markets have not panicked because both parties have come out to reassure that they are working towards a compromise after every failed vote, keeping alive hopes for a last-minute deal," Singapore-based DBS Bank said in a note.

US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew earlier told the International Monetary Fund that Washington understood its reputations a safe harbor was at risk.

Facebook ends 'invisibility cloak' for users

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is ending a feature that allowed users to hide from the billion-plus members of the social network.

The feature, akin to Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, will be removed, meaning that someone looking for another Facebook user can more easily find that person.

"The setting was created when Facebook was a simple directory of profiles and it was very limited," said Facebook's chief privacy officer, Michael Richter.

The setting made Facebook search "feel broken at times," Richter added in a company blog Thursday.

"For example, people told us that they found it confusing when they tried looking for someone who they knew personally and couldn't find them in search results, or when two people were in a Facebook Group and then couldn't find each other through search."

Facebook announced last year it was ending this feature for new users, but allowed a transition for a "small percentage" of users who had that feature enabled.

Richter said the change should not have an impact on overall privacy.

"Whether you've been using the setting or not, the best way to control what people can find about you on Facebook is to choose who can see the individual things you share," he said.

Facebook, which has been under scrutiny by privacy advocates, recently revamped its search functions to include so-called "graph search" that allows users to search through a wide range of posts on the world's biggest social network.

In a separate development, Google announced Friday it was following the lead of Facebook to allow users' pictures and endorsements to be used in product ads.

The change will take effect November 11, Google said in its updated terms of service.

"We want to give you -- and your friends and connections -- the most useful information," the document said.

"Recommendations from people you know can really help. So your friends, family and others may see your profile name and photo, and content like the reviews you share or the ads you (liked)."

Google said users can opt out of this feature, however, and added that it will not use endorsements from users under 18

Another underage girl sexually assaulted in Lahore

The reports of alleged molestation of underage girls continue to pour in from across the country with the latest being of another teenager who became the victim of a sexual assault here on Monday night, Geo News reported.

Reportedly, a 14-year old girl was found unconscious near Expo Center in near Jauhar Town where she was apparently left there by her alleged molesters.

The rescuers ambulanced her to Jinnah Hospital’s emergency room where an initial examination confirmed she was raped.

According to hospital sources, at the moment, the girl was too traumatized to record her statement.

"The police have kicked off an investigation and are waiting for the girl to speak so that they can take further action" the sources added.

It must be mentioned that a few weeks back a minor girl was also ravished in Lahore and dumped near a hospital.