Pakistan starts releasing Jamaat-ud-Dawa guys (click here)
16 Dec 2008, 0524 hrs IST, ET Bureau
...Showing no sign of taking further tough action against the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the Pakistan Punjab police has already released four detained Dawa workers and also removed police guards at the house of the group’s regional head Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi. Alvi heads the PoK chapter of the Jamaat and was put under house arrest last week. Reports quoting senior Pakistani police officials said that the police had no instructions to detain the “regional or second-line leadership” of the Jamaat raising doubts about the current action.
Numerous reports from Pakistan have also pointed out that the Jamaat-ud-Dawa’s main office in Muridke near Karachi continued to operate and that there was no official order to shut down in spite of UNSC ban that involves shutting down the functioning of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Even a Pakistani newspaper report had labeled the Muridke region the home of religious militancy....
India's Defense Minister Rules Out War with Pakistan (click here)
By Steve Herman New Delhi16 December 2008
Seeking to dampen persistent media speculation a retaliatory strike is in the works against Pakistan, India's defense minister is declaring no military action is being planned. But he warns Islamabad to act against terrorists on its soil, if it wants normal relations with India. A.K. Antony says war is not an option, as a response to the terror attack on Mumbai....
...A group calling itself the Afghan Revolutionary Front had warned of "several bombs" in the store in a letter to the French AFP news agency.
"If you do not send someone to intervene before Wednesday December 17, they will explode," said the letter, which was handed over to police.
"Send the message to your president that he must withdraw his troops from our country before the end of February 2009 or else we will take action in your capitalist department stores and this time, without warning."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for vigilance and firmness in the battle against terrorism following the incident....
"If you do not send someone to intervene before Wednesday December 17, they will explode," said the letter, which was handed over to police.
"Send the message to your president that he must withdraw his troops from our country before the end of February 2009 or else we will take action in your capitalist department stores and this time, without warning."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for vigilance and firmness in the battle against terrorism following the incident....
