Obama asks Muslims to make fresh beginning

CAIRO: Quoting from the Holy Quran for emphasis, President Barack Obama called for a ‘new beginning between the United States and Muslims’ on Thursday and said that together they could confront violent extremism across the globe and advance the timeless search for peace in the Middle East.

‘This cycle of suspicion and discord must end,’ Mr Obama said in a widely anticipated speech in one of the world’s largest Muslim countries, an address designed to reframe relations after the terrorist

Holbrooke assures full help in reconstruction phase

US announces extra $200m for IDPs
ISLAMABAD: US President Barack Obama is seeking an additional $200 million to help the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Swat and Malakand division, US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Hobrooke said on Wednesday.

“Today, the president (Obama) requested the Congress of the US to allocate an additional $200 million,” he told a joint press conference with President Asif Ali Zardari and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Pakistani Americans form new body to serve country

NEW YORK: Some 90 Pakistani-Americans – affiliated with various parties and bodies – decided on Sunday to form a new organisation with the aim to serve Pakistan’s interests.

The decision to form the ‘Pak-American Foundation’, an umbrella organisation, was unanimous, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters after presiding over a meeting of Pakistani-Americans which was also attended by US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson, Pakistani Ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani and

Pakistanis speak out against Talibanization

At a congressional hearing last week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stressed the need for the Pakistani diaspora to speak out against Talibanization in Pakistan.

To set the record straight: The Pakistani American community has consistently raised its voice against the spread of extremism globally. Sadly, the mainstream U.S. media hardly pay attention.

We too are deeply concerned about the recent developments in northern Pakistan, and especially this deal with the Taliban,

Sound the Alarm

What does the Obama administration hope to accomplish by publicly warning of a Pakistani collapse?
Washington Post editorial
THE TALIBAN raised fears in Pakistan last week by briefly seizing new territories near the capital, Islamabad. But in its own way, the Obama administration offered as much reason for panic about the deteriorating situation in that nuclear-armed Muslim country. In the course of just three days, the U.S. secretaries of State and Defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,