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Pakistan’s Taliban threatened on Friday to launch attacks in the
United States and Europe “very soon.” The warning came after a renewal of
militant violence in Pakistan this week that is piling pressure on a
U.S.-backed government overwhelmed by the flood crisis.

“We will launch attacks in America and Europe very soon,” Qari
Hussain Mehsud, a senior Pakistani Taliban leader and mentor of suicide
bombers, told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

A suicide bomber struck at a rally in the Pakistani city of
Quetta on Friday, killing at least 54 people in the second major attack this
week.

The attack on the Shi’ite rally expressing solidarity with the
Palestinian people came as the United States said the devastating floods are
likely to hold up army offensives against Taliban insurgents.

“Unfortunately the flooding in Pakistan is probably going to
delay any operations by the Pakistani army in North Waziristan for some period
of time,” U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in Afghanistan where he is
visiting U.S. troops.

Senior police official Hamid Shakeel told Reuters that at least
54 people were killed and about 160 wounded in Quetta.

Dozens of dead and wounded lay in pools of blood after the blast
that also engulfed vehicles in flames.

Hours later, the al Qaeda-linked Taliban took responsibility for
the attack, saying it was revenge for killings of radical Sunni clerics by
Shi’ites, further challenging the unpopular civilian government. “We take pride
in taking responsibility for the Quetta attack,” Mehsud told Reuters.

Earlier in the day, the Taliban also claimed responsibility for
bombings on Wednesday at a Shi’ite procession in the eastern city of Lahore in
which at least 33 people died. These blasts were the first major attack since
flood waters tore through the country. The Taliban and their allies often
target religious minorities in a campaign to destabilize the government.

The Taliban said the U.S. decision to put it on its list of
terrorist organizations was a sign of being scared.

Aside from its battles against homegrown Taliban, Pakistan is
under intense American pressure to tackle Afghan Taliban fighters who cross the
border into Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas to attack U.S.-led NATO troops.

The United States has stepped up missile strikes by pilotless
drone aircraft against militant targets in Pakistan’s Pashtun tribal lands
since the start of 2010. On Friday, U.S. drones fired missiles at two targets
in North Waziristan tribal region, killing seven militants, including two
foreigners, intelligence officials said.

Pakistan has said the army would decide when to carry out a
full-fledged assault in North Waziristan, where Washington says anti-American
militants enjoy safe havens, at the time it considers appropriate.

In another attack in the northwest, a suicide bomber killed one
person outside a mosque of the Ahmadi sect, who consider themselves Muslims but
whom Pakistan declares non-Muslims.

Attention has focused on the Pakistani Taliban again after U.S.
prosecutors this week charged its leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, in a plot that
killed seven CIA employees at an American base in Afghanistan last December.

Islamist charities, some of them linked to militant groups, have
at the same time joined in the relief effort for the millions affected by the
worst floods in the nation’s history.

U.S. officials are concerned that the involvement of hardline
groups in flood relief will undermine the fight against militancy in Pakistan
as well Afghanistan.

Economic crisis

Anger is spreading over the government’s sluggish response to
the floods, raising the possibility of social unrest.

Pakistan is also facing economic catastrophe, with the floods
causing damage the government has estimated at $43 billion, almost a quarter of
the south Asian nation’s 2009 GDP.

Some relief has come from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
It will give Pakistan $450 million in emergency flood aid and disburse funds in
September to help the economy cope with the devastation.

Talks in Washington with a delegation led by Pakistan’s Finance
Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on the terms of an $11 billion IMF loan program
left him satisfied with the country’s commitment to reforms, IMF chief
Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

Under the 2008 IMF loan program, Islamabad promised to implement
tax and energy sector reforms and give full autonomy to the State Bank of
Pakistan.

The Abia State government says it has received the
approval of the federal government to set up a Special Amnesty
Committee to work out programmes on the rehabilitation of kidnappers.

The committee, headed by the Deputy Governor, Acho
Nwakanma, said it has noted the loopholes that led to the failure of
the first amnesty programme for kidnappers and other criminals, and was
working out modalities to ensure the success of the current programme.

Pardon for kidnappers

The committee said it would work with the DDR
technique which entails Disarming and Demobilizing Repentant kidnappers
and rehabilitating them.

It disclosed that arms collection centres would be
established close to areas where kidnapping was rampant, to encourage
the perpetrators to surrender their arms and embrace the programme,
adding that a camp would be established for the repentant kidnappers
where their demobilization would take place before they would be taken
to rehabilitation camp.

The committee said that as soon as it was through
with fine-tuning the modalities, the governor would make the
proclamation which would also determine the duration of the programme.

Mr Nwakanma said the committee was set up after
Theodore Orji, the state governor, consulted widely and received the
consent of the federal government, and expressed hope that the
programme would be the answer to the security situation in Abia which,
he said, has “weighed down the state and made it to look different from
what it is.” Mr Nwakanma said, “I want to use this opportunity to
appeal to our brothers to drop their arms and embrace the amnesty
programme. Kidnapping is affecting Abia and increasing the unemployment
problem. If they allow people to come and invest in Aba, there will be
employment.”

Second attempt

This is the second committee to be set up for the purpose of giving amnesty to repentant kidnappers and their sponsors in Abia.

The first was in May and was headed by the
Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Umeh Kalu. It ran into
controversy when a joint army patrol was said to have shot dead a
repentant kidnapper who was on his way to surrender his arms.

Membership of the committee includes: Azubuko Udah,
the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, Hafiz Ringim, his
counterpart in Zone 9; Jonathan Johnson, Abia State Commissioner of
Police; Vincent Okah, Commissioner of Police, Forensic Division, Abuja;
Nathaniel Obong, the Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence
Corps; and Transition Committee chairmen from kidnap-prone zones of the
state.

The governor of
Niger State, Aliyu Babangida, and deputy Senate president, Ike
Ekweremadu, were the latest in a long line of dignitaries to offer
their condolences for the fire that damaged part of the Peoples’
Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Abuja.

The two men visited
the secretariat in Abuja yesterday, and spoke on a number of issues,
including the state of the constitutional amendment and better building
codes.

Mr. Ekweremadu said the fire called to question some of the building’s disaster-preparedness measures.

“When people are
building houses, we should be able to put in place measures to address
all these unforeseen circumstances,” he said.

“Now that we are building the new party secretariat, we [should] ensure that these disasters are addressed at design stage.”

Talking politics

In response to a
question about the amended constitution, he said it was “operational.”
He challenged anyone who disagreed to take the matter to the courts.

“Our business is to
make laws and once those laws are made, it becomes what is called
‘funtus officio’. So the law is operational until it is set aside by
the court,” he said.

“We are not going to worry ourselves about that. As far as we are concerned, we have done our job.”

On the INEC request
for the voters register and 2011 elections, he said the commission
needed to use its initial N87 billion request before the National
Assembly could approve further funds.

“Even though I have reservations about the figure, we need to support them to do a good job,” he said.

“We hope they apply the money appropriately.”

The University of Ibadan, on Thursday,
announced the appointment of Isaac Folorunsho Adewole, a consultant
obstetrician and gynaecologist at the University College Hospital
(UCH), Ibadan, as the next Vice Chancellor of the institution.

The pro-chancellor and council chairman
of the premier university, Wole Olanipekun, announced the appointment
at a press briefing held at the council chambers of the institution
early yesterday.

According him, Mr Adewole, who is
expected to take over from the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Olufemi
Bamiro, whose term expires on December 1, was rated best in all stages
of interviews conducted for the 12 candidates for the post. The
appointment concludes a process which began several months ago.

Describing the process that produced
the new Vice Chancellor as the best in the history of the university,
Mr Olanipekun noted that all the candidates for the post were subjected
to fair competition before Mr Adewole eventually emerged.

He maintained that, in the said
process, the management of the university fulfilled all portions of the
law governing the appointment of a Vice Chancellor.

According to him, despite the fact that
the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in Abuja was yet to come up with
the policy of 70 years retirement age for university professors, UI was
the first and the only institution in history that did not place an
form of embargo on candidates when it placed newspaper advertisements
to declare the seat of the Vice Chancellor of the institution vacant.

Besides, he said, at stages of the
interview, none of the candidates eligible to partake was shut out,
saying the process was the most transparent.

Transparent protest

The process, which started on February
25, when the council met and approved the placement of adverts in
newspapers to call for applications for the position, climaxed with the
final selection of the new VC by the selection committee on Wednesday,
September 1.

While reacting to a newspaper report
that there was some sort of crises in the process, Mr Olanipekun said
the speculation was not true, as the process has produced the best
performed among the candidates.

He informed that unlike in the past
when the selection committee would pick three names and forward them to
the university visitor, the president of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, for appointment of one from amongst them, the new law has
bestowed the power to select just one among the contestants and send
same to the visitor for ratification.

Adewole’s name, he added, will soon be
sent to Goodluck Jonathan for ratification before Bamiro’s term
expires, in order not to have a vacuum in the administration of the
university.

Interaction with council

Before he was finally appointed, Mr
Adewole, together with the other 11, had an interaction with the
University Council at the council meeting held on August 20.

Six were then shortlisted for an
interview, from which the final thre names were presented for the
selection board were picked. The two other names besides Mr Adewole’s
were Francis Egbokhare of the Department of Linguistics, University of
Ibadan, and Friday Okonofua of the Department of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology, University of Benin.

Apart from being adjudged the best in the process, Mr Adewole, the
former provost of the College of Medicine, Ibadan, delivered, arguably,
the best presentation when all candidates for the post were gathered
for an interactive with members of the university community last month,
though Olanipekun noted that the programme was not part of the
selection process.

The chairman of the
Labour Party, Dan Iwuanyanwu, yesterday refuted reports that the former
governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, is a member of his party.

Mr Duke, who
resigned his membership of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
in June, is widely speculated to have pitched his tent with the Labour
Party, on which he allegedly plans to realise his presidential
ambition. The party shares the fourth largest party position with the
All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), each controlling a state.

Mr Iwuanyanwu said
the last time he checked, Mr Duke, who is his personal friend, was not
a member of his party as widely speculated.

“As of yesterday, I
don’t think Donald Duke has joined our party,” Mr Iwuanyanwu said. “I
am aware he resigned from the PDP but he is not yet a member of our
party.” He, however, added that Mr Duke has the right to be a member of
the party.

In a letter
addressed to the Cross River State Chairman of the PDP and dated April
29, Mr Duke described his former party as, “dysfunctional, unable to
articulate a road map and lead Nigerians on a clear and concise path to
national renewal.” He later revealed how politicians rigged elections
in the country after he publicly declared his ambition to run for the
presidential elections in 2011.

“I know he intends to play a major role in 2011 but I don’t know under which platform,” Mr Anyanwu said.

Party with brand name

Mr Anyanwu also
denied having any talks with Nuhu Ribadu, another presidential
candidate; but spoke well of Mr Ribadu’s chairmanship of the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“In our party, we
don’t force people,” he said. “Labour Party is a brand name. We can
only talk to you, without being immodest, that you are in the wrong
place; why not come and run under our platform? Some have moved, but we
don’t pressurize people because if you pressurize them, they may jump
out when things get worse.” Mr Anyanwu, however, said his party has got
four “solid” presidential candidates from which one will emerge after
serious screening.

He added that his
party, unlike the PDP, was not bothered about which region in the
country the candidate was born, but is rather focused on a candidate
who will deliver an already mapped out blue print to prosper Nigeria.

“What is important and paramount to us is to have a presidential
candidate that can stand the test of time and understands Nigeria and
that is ready to work. We don’t want a situation where we have a
candidate who does not understand Nigeria but because he is from one
part of the country, he is voted into office,” he said.

The Commissioner
for Health in Ogun State, Kunle Salako yesterday officially joined the
governorship race for 2011 in the state under the banner of the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Salako was among
12 other aspirants who scaled through a screening exercise conducted by
a committee from the Ogun West Senatorial District (Yewa/Awori axis),
following agitation by the zone to be the one to provide the next
governor of the state.

Addressing a press
conference in Abeokuta about his ambitions, the commissioner explained
that he had made a number of consultations before entering into the
race, adding that his zone cannot continue to play second fiddle in the
affairs of the state since its creation.

“I took my time to consult with my family, God and my kinsmen, and resolved that we can’t always sit on the fence,” he said.

“One must come out to be part of the process, and I am not afraid. This is a divine assignment I can’t turn away.”

Uplift the state

He said if elected
into office, he would facilitate the return of business to the state
and would also continue to handle the fund burden.

“If I am given the opportunity to rule, I would not disappoint the electorate who offer me the opportunity,” he said.

Mr Salako said the electorate in the state are his political
godfathers, whom he believes will rally round him with both cash and
votes. “I am not a rich man, but if the entire Ogun State believes in
me, they would raise money for the project,” he said. “My coming to
contest is not to antagonize anybody, but to tell the public that I am
capable and competent to rule. All electorate in Ogun State are my
godfathers. If they give the opportunity to rule, I must not disappoint
my godfathers.”

Following their poor performance at the
interview arranged for their promotion, some local government officials
in Oyo State have been demoted.

Chairman of the state local government
service, Kola Gbadamosi, said the affected workers, who were in grade
level 13, were examined for promotion to the position of administration
staff, but had to be demoted to level 07 because of their dismal
performance at the interview.

He said though they were well aware of
the implication of not performing to the expectation before taking the
test, the demoted officers still went ahead to try their luck.

According to him, the exercise was carried out to raise the standard of the state local government service.

Mr. Gbadamosi explained that among the
number that took the interview, only 30 percent failed, adding that
they still have the opportunity to re-sit next year.

He posited that since about 70 percent
of the staff who took the examination passed and were promoted, it
shows that the intelligent quotient of the workers is high.

“On the whole, about 4,000 local
government staff on level 06 upwards adjudged to be suitably qualified
for promotion, were promoted to the next ranks/posts and salary grade
levels in the various cadres in the local government service in the
state,” he said.

Optimum productivity

On conformity to the rules guiding
their job, the chairman said members of the commission paid unscheduled
visits to some of the local government secretariat to see how well the
staff do their work according to the rules, saying appropriate
sanctions have been imposed on some of the workers who were found
wanting in the area.

Training in reputable tertiary
institutions, he said, have been approved for a number of workers under
the care of the commission, adding that the move became necessary to
ensure optimum productivity. Such an effort was also replicated for the
directors of personnel management and finance, who were sent abroad for
further requisite trainings.

He said the commission is facing the
challenge of lack of funds to engage in training and capacity building
for sub-professional and core-professional staff of the commission,
while the available accommodation for its secretariat staff remains
inadequate.

Israeli and
Palestinian leaders began direct peace negotiations Thursday, saying it
was time to end their conflict but projecting tough talks ahead as
hardliners on both sides vowed never to accept a deal.

One day after U.S.
President Barack Obama made a personal appeal for peace, Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the State
Department to begin talks aimed at establishing an independent
Palestinian state.

“This will not be
easy,” Netanyahu said as talks began. “A true peace, a lasting peace,
(would) be achieved only with mutual and painful concessions from both
sides.” Netanyahu said Israel was ready to go “a long way in a short
time” to reach a peaceful solution to the decades-long conflict, which
Obama has signalled is a top priority for his administration.

Abbas called on
Israel to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip and stop settlement
activity — a potential roadblock to any deal. About half a million
Jewish settlers live in communities scattered all over the West Bank
that have the protection of Israeli armed forces, as well as in Arab
East Jerusalem.

Abbas also said the Palestinians recognized the need for security, a key Israeli demand.

“We want to state our commitment to follow on all our … engagements, including security and ending incitement,” Abbas said.

The direct talks,
which mark a risky personal foray into Middle East peacemaking for
Obama, come after a 20-month hiatus. Negotiators face deep divisions
among both Israelis and Palestinians over the prospects for peace as
well as the one-year timeline that Obama has set.

Acknowledging the
“suspicions and scepticism” that surround the talks, Clinton said the
United States would be a sustained partner in the peace effort but
would not impose its own solution.

‘Peace and dignity’

“By being here
today, you each have taken an important step towards freeing your
peoples from the shackles of a history we cannot change and moving
towards a future of peace and dignity that only you can create,”
Clinton said.

The negotiations
were denounced by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which seized
control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas’ Fatah party in 2007 and rejects
negotiation with Israel.

Hamas, which killed
four Israeli settlers in the a West Bank shooting attack Tuesday, said
it would continue the attacks and ignore any deal struck at the talks.

Jewish settlers,
meanwhile, vowed to launch new construction in their enclaves in the
occupied West Bank, saying they could never accept a “phony peace” that
curbs their right to live in what they consider Israel’s biblical
homeland.

Obama, hosting the
talks ahead of the pivotal November U.S. congressional elections, used
separate meetings with Netanyahu and Abbas Wednesday to urge them not
to let the chance for peace slip away.

The issue of
settlements looms large over the peace talks. Abbas has warned he will
walk out unless Israel extends its self-imposed moratorium before it
expires on September 26.

Israel dismisses
international findings that the Jewish settlements that have been built
since the 1980s in the West Bank, on land occupied by the Israeli
military since 1967, constitute a violation of international law.

Netanyahu, who
heads a coalition dominated by pro-settler parties, has resisted any
formal extension of the partial construction freeze, meaning the
fledgling negotiations will face a major challenge within weeks.

Four Israeli
settlers were killed by Hamas in a shooting attack in the West Bank
Tuesday. Another two people were wounded in a similar attack by
suspected Palestinian gunmen on Wednesday despite a crackdown by
Palestinian police.

Netanyahu welcomed
Abbas’ denunciation of the attack, but said it was important that his
government find a way to stop future attacks by Islamists opposed to a
deal.

“They seek to kill our people, kill our state, kill our peace. And so achieving security is a must,” Netanyahu said.

Abbas — whose
Fatah party holds sway in the West Bank — said his fledgling security
services would stay on the hunt for the perpetrators.

“We will continue
all our effort to take security measures in order to find the
perpetrators. We consider that security is of essence, is vital (for)
both of us,” he said.

Jewish settlers,
who have threatened to topple Netanyahu if he does not allow them to
resume building, said they planned to launch new construction even
before the government’s freeze ends on September 26. They also rejected
Palestinian hopes to set up their own state on the West Bank.

REUTERS

The Ondo State Police Command yesterday made a major
breakthrough in its quest to rid the state of criminals, as it paraded
over 52 suspected criminals arrested between July and August this year.
The suspects were arrested for offences ranging from armed robbery,
kidnapping and cultism.

Though most of the suspects denied the allegations
levelled against them, some admitted that they actually committed the
offences and pleaded for mercy.

While parading the suspects at the police
headquarters situated along Igbatoro Road, the state police
commissioner, Ballah Magaji Nasarawa, said the arrests were made in
over eight local government areas of the state. He added that the
suspects were arrested based on tip-offs from members of the public
during distress calls. He explained that 14 of the suspects were
apprehended with dangerous weapons during the recently concluded Ogun
festival in the ancient town of Ondo. “The suspects allegedly attacked
two innocent people who are currently receiving treatment in an
undisclosed hospital in Ondo town,” he said.

Mr Nasarawa added that the suspects will soon be charged to court for conduct likely to cause breach of public peace.

Kidnappers and robbers

Also paraded by the police were two natives of
Okitipupa, Daniel Sunday and Biyi Beke, who allegedly kidnapped a
10-year-old boy, Daniel Iyaomolere. The duo were said to have kidnapped
a boy from Lawanson area of Lagos and later moved the boy to Omotosho
area of Ondo State where they were apprehended by detectives. The
suspects said they were pushed to commit the offence by the situation
of things in the country.

Another gang of six robbery suspects, who have
allegedly been snatching cars at gun point in Akure and other parts of
the state, were also paraded. The police boss said they normally robbed
vehicles at gunpoint in Akure and drove the stolen vehicles to Lagos to
sell.

“Their modus operandi is that these robbers normally
rob a vehicle at gun point from Akure and ferry it to Lagos and sell
it. While in Lagos, they will rob another vehicle and bring it to Akure
and keep it at the state specialist hospital, Akure, collect a tag and
leave it there for safe keeping without the knowledge of the hospital
authority, while they scout for a buyer,” he said.

Mr Nasarawa also informed that four of the robbers
that raided banks in Akure and Ikare had been arrested in Effurun in
Delta State while four other members of the group were arrested in Ogun
State. He said police officers from the command identified the robbery
suspects through the CCTV footage retrieved from one of the banks
robbed in Akure.

Some of the weapons recovered from the robbers were:
one military multi purpose machine gun, two military rocket launchers,
five rockets launchers, dynamite, three strands of explosive cords and
115 magazines painted in military colours with 30 rounds of live
ammunition each.

The tension generated by the alleged de-accreditation
of the Medical and Dental courses in the University of Benin (UNIBEN)
by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria appears to have died down,
as normal activities resumed at the Ugbowo campus of the university
yesterday.

Thousands of students of the higher institution had
taken to the ever busy Ugbowo/Lagos Road on Tuesday to protest the
de-accreditation of the said courses, thereby, disrupting vehicular and
human movement for several hours.

A visit to the campus showed that academic activities
were in full flow. Students were seen receiving lectures in several
lecture halls, while administrative offices were also full of activity.
The famous Akin Deko Hall was full to capacity, as it played host to a
memorial lecture organized by the university.

Still apprehensive

Some of the students directly affected by the
de-accreditation were, however, still apprehensive about their fate,
although they refused to be identified.

A female final year dentistry student said she could
not imagine not been able to get her certificate after going through
all the stress of studying. She appealed to the school authority to
expedite action to meet with the requirement of the regulatory council
in order to resolve the issue.

Another final year medical student also expressed
concern, should the Medical and Dental council of Nigeria decide not to
rescind their decision.

“Just think of it, I am already seeing myself as a
medical doctor. That is the dream of many of us. But to hear that the
dream is suddenly dashed, it’s suicidal, my brother. They should rather
kill us physically than killing our dreams,” he said.

It thus appears that the atmosphere could be best
described as uneasy calm, pending the outcome of the meeting of the
Vice Chancellor of UNIBEN with management of the Nigerian Medical and
Dental Council of Nigeria, in Abuja, as some of the students are
threatening to go back to the streets if things are not formalized.

A visit to the public relations officer of the school, Osaze
Osarenren, to obtain his comment yielded no result, as he was attending
a meeting with the vice chancellor. Calls to his phone were not
answered either.