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Sri Lankan seam bowler Lasith Malinga has been pulled out of the Highveld Lions squad due to “injury and conditioning concerns”.

The domestic Twenty20 season is due to commence next week in South Africa, but the Sri Lankan cricket board have had to withdraw the 26-year-old.

Galle-born Malinga has been producing a host of fantastic performances in the shortened form of the game - with the Sri Lankan earning a good Twenty20 record, taking 24 wickets in 20 matches.

Signed as an overseas player for the Standard Bank Pro20 competition in Ocotber last year, Lions coach Dave Nosworthy has admitted that the news has come as a blow - losing a great player in Malinga.

He added: “This is a disappointing situation, as Malinga would have been a great asset in the team and we would have had a “death bowling” specialist to be feared.

“At this stage we also sit with three of our front line bowlers on the injury list in Andre Nel, Craig Alexander and Friedel de Wet - which makes things even tougher.

“However, all these things mean is that someone else gets the opportunity to step up to the plate which excites me.”
Sky Sports

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview aired on Tuesday that Al Qaeda has been weakened by the U.S. actions against terrorism, and pointed to a taped message purported to be by Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden about the failed Christmas Day bomb plot as evidence.

“Al Qaeda itself is greatly weakened from where it was back in 2000. Bin Laden sending out a tape trying to take credit for a Nigerian student who engaged in a failed bombing attempt is an indication of how weakened he is because this is not something necessarily directed by him,” Obama told ABC’s Good Morning America. AGENCIES
Saama TV

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has rejected clarification from Interior Minister Rehman Malik and postponed the hearing till February 18.

The case was heard by a two-member bench chaired by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhry. During the hearing, chief justice remarked that the court was not satisfied with Rehman Malik’s response and action under contempt of court will be taken against him. He said that he never interfered in administrative or legislative issues; however Malik had interfered in judicial issues, which will not be allowed. “We never wished to interrupt ministers’ work and call them into courts. You took the name of the court while changing the investigations of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) that is considered as interference in the court’s work,” he said and added that the interior minister doesn’t know the affect of his interference in the case.

Rehman Malik clarified that he had read the report in a newspaper that the court has shown dissatisfaction on the FIA investigation team

During the hearing, the FIA team presented the fresh report of investigation about PSM corruption case. The report stated that the main suspect of the case - Moeen Aftab - is in custody whereas 4 more suspects are on bail; however, 9 suspects are still at large.

The chief justice said that the court is interested in the recovery of money being robbed from the nation and only National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is authorized to take action for the same. SAMAA

ISTANBUL: The Trilateral Summit consisting of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey agreed to boost cooperation amongst the three countries as revealed at the end of the Summit in Turkey on Monday.

“We are committed to the war against terrorism. The peace in Afghanistan is in the best interest of Pakistan,” President Asif Ali Zardari said while addressing a joint press conference with his Afghanistan counterpart, President Hamid Karzai and Turkish President Abdullah Gul .

We want to see peace and stability in the whole region, he added.

“When our government came into power in Pakistan, we gave a 3Ds policy to the armed forces to tackle the menace of terrorism comprising of dialogue, development and deterrence,” he said.

President Zardari expressed that Pakistan is ready to hold a dialogue with Taliban but Taliban must leave their weapons. “We don’t neglect the aspect of the dialogue,” he told.

“We have conducted successful military operations in Swat and South Waziristan, which shows the determination of Pakistan towards war against terrorism,” he added.

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai also expressed his readiness in having a talk with the Taliban.

“We will allow all those Taliban to live peacefully in Afghanistan who leave their weapons and are not a part of Al-Qaida,” he added. SAMAA

MULTAN: The government would ensure no confrontation among the institutions, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said while addressing a public gathering on Sunday.

All the institutions would be respected according to the constitution of the country. All the institutions would be strengthened in the country, he added.

We promise that we would strengthen the democracy and the constitution because our PPP leaders have sacrificed their lives for the supremacy of the constitution and the democracy, he added.

I want to clarify to those people who think there would be confrontation among the institutions of the country and the democratic system would collapse and the government would invite the armed forces to take over the reins of power in the country. These people are mistaken. We would not allow any confrontation among the institutions. We respect the judiciary. And all the institutions would continue to work in its constitutional limits, he added.Addressing to the public, he said,”I assure you that there would be no confrontation among the institutions”

The Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary would continue to work in its limits, he added.

We proud of Pakistan’s military. It has rendered greater services to the country. Security forces have sacrificed their lives for to defeat the terrorists in war against terrorism, he added.

PM Gilani said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) accepts that there are problems in the country but we promise the public that we would solve all the problems of the people, he added.

Shaheed Zulifqar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto worked for the people of the country. These two leaders rendered greater services for the people of the country. We would continue to follow the mission of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. We would fulfill all the promises made by Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. The promise made by Shaheed Zulifkar Ali Bhutto of providing meals, clothes and houses to every Pakistani would be fulfilled by the PPP government, he added. SAMAA

MELBOURNE: Defending champion Rafael Nadal set up a blockbuster Australian Open quarter-final with Andy Murray on Sunday while Justine Henin’s fairytale comeback stayed on track.

But the tournament ended for US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Zheng Jie, meanwhile, rewrote the history books by becoming the first Chinese player to reach the last eight in Melbourne.

Spain’s second seeded Nadal was put to the test by big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic, who slammed down 28 aces, before he muted the challenge 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

It ensured an enticing last eight showdown with in-form fifth seed Murray after the Scot tamed another big-server, American John Isner, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-2.

Murray will be competing in his first Australian quarter-final and is the first Briton since John Lloyd in 1985 to get this far.

He showcased his exciting strokeplay against Isner and has yet to drop a set in his four victories at the year’s opening Grand Slam.

The pair have played each other nine times with Nadal winning seven.

Henin’s successful return to tennis after an 18-month retirement continued full steam when the seven-time Grand Slam champion beat fellow Belgian and world number 16 Yanina Wickmayer 7-6 (7/3), 1-6, 6-3.

Her victory matched the best performance by a wildcard here in the Open Era — Martina Hingis in 2006 and Jelena Dokic in 2009 also made the quarters — and earned her a crack at Russian Nadia Petrova for a place in the semi-finals.

Petrova, the 19th seed, made the last eight by beating third seed Kuznetsova, continuing her giantkilling ways having already ousted Kim Clijsters.

She won 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 and Kuznetsova admitted she deserved to lose.

Zheng’s achievement was impressive, with the unseeded 26-year-old upsetting Ukrainian 31st seed Alona Bondarenko 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 as she and Li Na, who plays her fourth round match on Monday, continue to fly the flag for China.

The victory sets her up against either second seed Dinara Safina or fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko.

Zheng proved to be marginally steadier than the Ukrainian in a match where both women struggled to hold their serves.

Argentina’s del Potro crashed out of contention in a five-set epic with 14th seed Marin Cilic.

The Croatian outlasted an exhausted del Potro 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 to earn himself a quarter-final against either American seventh seed Andy Roddick or former finalist Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.
Geo Super

Shane Watson and Cameron White both struck fifties as the Aussies posted 267-6, after being put in to bat by Pakistan skipper Mohammad Yousuf at the SCG.

The bowlers then stepped up to back-up the batsmen and, after Doug Bollinger (2-19) and Peter Siddle (1-23) had shaken up the top order, Clint McKay claimed three wickets as the tourists crumbled.

Only captain Yousuf offered any resistance with his top score of 58, but he found precious little help and his side slipped to an embarrassing defeat when being bowled out for 127 inside 38 overs, putting Australia 2-0 up in the series.

Australia set the tone from the off with Watson in explosive form, as he hit seven fours and a six in his 69 scored off just 71 balls, before he was caught at mid-wicket by Shoaib Malik off Shahid Afridi.
Watson dominated the 100-run opening stand with Shaun Marsh (41), but when they both went the momentum started to swing as wickets tumbled.

Captain Ricky Ponting (13) fell to Mohammad Aamer and Michael Clarke (25) followed soon after to leave the hosts on 166-4, but White came in and picked up where he left off in Brisbane on Friday.

White, who smashed 105 at the Gabba, smacked 55 from 57 balls and combined with Mike Hussey (29) for 55 and a quick-fire 40 with wicketkeeper Brad Haddin (27) as Australia built up a commanding total.

Aamer picked up his third wicket when removing White, but the damage had been done and Pakistan then needed to hit their straps from the off to chase down 268.

They got exactly the start they didn’t want though, as Bolinger removed both opener Salman Butt for two and Younus Khan for a duck in the fifth over, with both men edging to White at second slip.

Kamran Akmal was then brilliantly run out for 16 by McKay off his own bowling, and Siddle got his reward for his hostile spell by sending younger brother Umar Akmal back to the pavilion for nought.
McKay grabbed the first of his three wickets by removing Malik and Pakistan stood on 42-5, which soon became 58-6 when Afridi went for the spectacular but was caught and bowled by Watson for just nine.

All the while, Yousuf was plugging away at the other end, and he finally found some help when Rana Naved came in and smashed two sixes in his 27 off 22 balls.

When Rana was stumped trying to smash Nathan Hauritz out of the ground though, that ended the partnership on 46 and any lingering last hope was lost.

Yousuf’s brave stand ended on 58 as McKay claimed the skipper’s scalp, and then wrapped up the innings by getting rid of Saeed Ajmal to finish with career-best figures of 3-15.

After leaving Pakistan in tatters, Australia now lead the five-match series 2-0 ahead of Tuesday’s third game at the Adelaide Oval.
Sky Sports

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama is “troubled” by cyberattacks on Internet titan Google and wants answers from China, the White House said.

The State Department said meanwhile that US and Chinese diplomats have held several meetings to discuss the attacks, which Google said targeted the email accounts of Chinese human rights activists, and more talks were expected.

“We are having high-level meetings and we will continue to have meetings and we will continue to press this issue aggressively,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. “We will continue to seek an explanation from China.

“A blanket denial that nothing happened we don’t think is particularly helpful,” Crowley added.

Obama is also looking to Beijing to shed light on the cyberattacks which have prompted Google to say it will stop censoring Web search results in China, a move that may force it to leave the country entirely.

“As the president has said, he continues to be troubled by the cybersecurity breach that Google attributes to China,” White House deputy spokesman Bill Burton said. “As Secretary (Hillary) Clinton said yesterday, all we are looking for from China are some answers.”

Clinton on Thursday urged Beijing to conduct a thorough investigation into the cyberattacks on Google and other US firms and criticized China and other nations for censoring the Web and restricting the “free flow of information.”

The secretary of state’s comments, in a wide-ranging speech on Internet freedom, drew the strongest reaction to date from China since the Google dispute erupted last week.

“We firmly oppose such words and deeds, which go against the facts and are harmful to China-US relations,” foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said. “We urge the United States to respect facts and stop using the so-called Internet freedom issue to criticize China unreasonably.”

Ma urged the United States not to let the Google row upset relations, which are already dogged by a range of disputes over trade and currency issues, US arms sales to Taiwan and climate change.

Ma said China hoped both sides would “respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, properly handle differences and sensitive issues to maintain the healthy and steady development of Sino-US relations.”

State Department spokesman Crowley said the United States had “taken note” of the Chinese foreign ministry’s statement but had no further comment.

He said the latest US-China meeting had been between Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and the Chinese ambassador here, Zhou Wenzhong.

He said Clinton’s speech, Google and the “broader aspects of our relationship” were discussed.

“We have a broad relationship with China,” Crowley said. “We think that it is far more stable than it has been in some time. That said, we have a range of issues where we have, you know, disagreements.”

He also said that Washington had “not yet” made a formal request to Beijing known as a “demarche” asking for an explanation for the cyberattacks on Google.

A senior State Department official told reporters that while the United States and China have differences on the issue of Internet freedom, Clinton’s speech “was not directed at China individually.”

Asked about China’s public posture and the diplomatic talks, the official said: “There are things that China does for public consumption and that may or may not reflect the conversations that we have in private.”

“The Chinese understood the context of the secretary’s speech and that it wasn’t specifically directed at them,” said the official, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity.

Google has not yet stopped censoring search results on google.cn, but Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said Thursday it will happen soon.

“We continue to follow their laws, we continue to offer censored results. But in a reasonably short time from now we will be making some changes there,” Schmidt said.

China is believed to employ thousands of people in a vast system of Internet censorship dubbed the “Great Firewall of China,” which polices what the world’s largest online population can see and do on the Web.

Beijing regularly invokes the need to stamp out pornography as a key reason for the controls but critics contend its primary purpose is to quell political dissent or content seen as threatening to Communist Party rule.
Saama Tv

ISLAMABAD: U.S. ally Pakistan is reaching out to “all levels” of the Afghan Taliban in a bid to encourage reconciliation in its war-torn neighbour, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said a political solution was needed to stabilise Afghanistan and has emphasised that success would not be possible without the support of Pakistan.

“We are trying to reach out to them at all levels and all of us would like that our efforts should bring some results but at this point in time it is very difficult to say,” ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said of Pakistan’s efforts.

The Afghan government is preparing a reintegration plan with the Taliban that targets lower to mid-level Taliban fighters but has not focused on more senior leaders of the insurgency.

International donors are meeting in London on Jan. 28, when Afghan President Hamid Karzai is expected to seek their support for his reintegration plan.

Analysts say Pakistan is well placed to mediate in Afghanistan, where it nurtured the Taliban in the 1990s.

Basit said it was important that there be reconciliation at all levels and that Pakistan was helping in this regard. He declined to give any details.

“Whether or not our efforts will yield results, we will see,” he told Reuters in an interview.

“We don’t want to discuss the specifics. There are efforts being made and we are trying to win over those Taliban or forces who are ‘reconcilables’. Let’s see,” he added.

Asked specifically whether Pakistan was targeting top-level leaders, he said: “We are trying at all levels but where we succeed is another matter.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Pakistan this week and urged it to root out Afghan Taliban based in its northwestern border enclaves, from where they have been orchestrating an intensified insurgency in Afghanistan.

UNDER PRESSURE

Pakistan has repeatedly told Washington that it was already fighting a homegrown Taliban and does not have the resources to open up new fronts against Afghan militant groups based in its northwest. Such groups include the Haqqani network, which the U.S. military says is the biggest threat in Afghanistan.

The United States has intensified unmanned drone attacks on militants in northwest Pakistan after a deadly attack on U.S. intelligence agents across the border in Afghanistan’s Khost province on Dec. 30.

Pakistan complains the attacks are an affront to its sovereignty and have asked the United States for drone technology as well as armed drones to do the job itself.

“We do need drones — unmanned vehicles — which are capable also of firing missiles,” he said.

“Pakistan is capable of handling these drone attacks militarily but we would not like to unnecessarily ratchet up problems with the U.S.,” he said.

During his visit, Gates offered a dozen unarmed surveillance drones. Basit said his government was considering the offer but reiterated that Pakistan wanted armed drones.

Gates also urged the Pakistanis to expand military operations to North Waziristan but was told it could take six months to a year before this happened, said Basit.

“If we expand our operations then that will require us to pull out from the eastern border which under the circumstances is not possible,” he said, referring to the border with rival India.

“That is a serious issue for us and we hope that at the end of the day our friends, the Americans, will be cognisant of our security perceptions,” he said.

Basit complained the United States was behind on delivering funds promised to pay for anti-militant efforts. The United States says Pakistan has denied visas for auditors and other U.S. officials needed to ensure the money is spent properly.

Gates annoyed Pakistan when he said on Wednesday in New Delhi that India may lose its patience with Pakistan after any repeat of a Mumbai-style attacks and militants in the region may use this to provoke the two rivals to war.

“Such a statement was very unhelpful and undiplomatic … These can be exploited by India,” said Basit.

New Delhi is increasingly frustrated at what it sees as Islamabad’s failure to bring to justice the masterminds of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.

It blames militants belonging to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group for the attacks that killed 166 people. AGENCIES
Saama TV

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will not start any new operation against terrorists this year, said spokesperson for Pakistani army.

Pakistan army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told a British channel that new fronts against terrorists will not be open in next one year. The Pakistan army is engaged in different areas and is not in a condition to open new fronts.

He said that the operations in Waziristan and Swat will continue.

The British channel reported that the US wants Pakistan to expand operation in Af-Pak border areas.

US URGES PAKISTAN TO MOVE AGAINST AFGHAN TALIBAN

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates met Pakistani leaders on Thursday to urge them to begin hunting down Afghan Taliban on their border, but signaled the United States would not push the pace of operations.

Pakistan ruled out a new offensive against militants soon, saying it had to consolidate gains against its home-grown Pakistani Taliban, fighting to bring down the government.

Islamabad has mounted big offensives against Pakistani Taliban factions, but has resisted U.S. pressure to go after Afghan Taliban in border enclaves who do not strike in Pakistan but cross the border to fight U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Gates, on his first trip to Pakistan since U.S. President Barack Obama took office last year, is visiting after a period of tense relations marked by suspicion on both sides.

Keen to dispel what he called a trust deficit, Gates praised Pakistan’s offensive against its al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban and assured U.S. support for future operations.

“We are not attempting to push them to pursue this any faster than they are comfortable doing, and that they are capable of doing,” Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.

“Their military is operating at a higher operational tempo than it has in recent memory and they are being stretched very thin, as our military is for that matter.”

Analysts say Pakistan sees the Afghan Taliban as tools to counter the growing influence of old rival India in Afghanistan and as potential allies in Afghanistan if U.S. forces withdraw and, as many Pakistanis fear, leave the country in chaos.

Gates said in a commentary in a Pakistani newspaper that making a distinction between Pakistani Taliban and their Afghan allies was counterproductive and all factions had to be tackled.

Pakistan and the United States have long been allies but ties have been strained by U.S. calls for Pakistan to do more to stop militants crossing from its lawless ethnic Pashtun borderlands to fight in Afghanistan.

But Pakistan’s military spokesman said there would be no new offensives for up to a year.

“We are not in a position to get overstretched,” the spokesman, Major-General Athar Abbas, told reporters.

Abbas also challenged the U.S. assertion that the Pakistani Taliban, Afghan Taliban and other insurgent groups were all linked: “The answer can’t be in black and white.”

Gates, who was defense secretary under former U.S. president George W. Bush and last visited Pakistan in 2007, said the United States was committed to a stable, long-term, strategic partnership with a democratic Pakistan.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES “NONSENSE”

Gates, who flew in from India, met army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and other top security officials as well as Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar and President Asif Ali Zardari on the first day of a two-day trip.

The U.S. military is pouring 30,000 additional troops into neighbouring Afghanistan to root out Taliban safe havens.

Pakistan is worried extra the U.S. troops will lead to a spill-over of fighting across the border. Gates said he would be explaining the Afghan strategy.

He said he would also raise thorny issues, including manifestations of anti-Americanism that include “problems with our visas and harassment of our people”.

U.S. officials said last month Pakistan was delaying hundreds of visas for U.S. officials and contractors, which could hamper U.S. aid programmes.

Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States attributed the delay in part to bureaucratic inefficiency, coupled with an “exponential” growth in the number of Americans in Pakistan.

The United States is Pakistan’s biggest aid donor and has given about $15 billion, including security assistance, since Pakistan signed up to the U.S.-led campaign against militancy after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

But many Pakistanis are sceptical of the campaign and also believe the United States wants to confiscate Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. Gates said such conspiracy theories were “nonsense”.

Another source of friction is strikes by missile-firing U.S. drone aircraft on militants in northwest Pakistan.

Gates declined to comment on military operations but said avoiding civilian casualties was central to U.S. strategy and the United States was mindful of Pakistan’s sovereignty. He also said Washington was considering supplying surveillance drones.

Pakistan is suspicious of closer ties between the United States and India and is keen to exclude India from any role in plans to stabilise Afghanistan. An international conference of Afghanistan is being held in London at the end of the month. SAMAA/AGENCIES