Kabul, 9 Rajab 1434/19 Mei 2013 (MINA) -  Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said the United States can establish military bases in Afghanistan after the two sides sign US-Afghan bilateral security agreement.

       "The agreement could be reached on condition that the US ensures lasting peace in the country," the Afghan president said.

       Karzai made the demand during a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday, Press TV reported as monitored by Mi'raj News Agency (MINA).

       US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said they discussed the joint progress on the bilateral security agreement, border issues and the status of the ongoing peace process. 

       "Kerry also affirmed that he and President Karzai remain committed to the same strategy and the same goal of a stable, sovereign Afghanistan, responsible for its own security and able to ensure that it can never again be a safe haven for terrorists," she added. 

        Meanwhile, Karzai’s spokesman Aimal Faizi said Washington has confirmed its demands for establishing nine permanent bases in Afghanistan. 

        "US officials have sent an email confirming the plan," Faizi added. 

       American officials previously denied that they had demanded that Kabul creates the bases, but have now admitted that their initial denial was mistaken. 

       Afghan officials say Washington has even picked some cities for its bases during its latest talks with Kabul. 

       The United States and its allies entered the war in Afghanistan in October 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but after more than 11 years, the foreign troops have still not been able to establish security in the country. 

       The foreign troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014. However, there are still more than 100,000 US-led troops (67,000 US troops and 37,000 coalition forces) in the country.(T/P08/P03)

MINA ( Mi’raj News Agency)

     Peshawar, 7 Jumadil Akhir 1434/17 April 2013 (MINA) - An explosion in Pakistan has killed at least nine people and wounded dozens more at an election campaign rally being attended by a senior politician, Tuesday (16/4) in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

     A senior leader of the secular Awami National Party (ANP), Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, escaped the blast with only minor bruises, officials say, according to Al Jazeera report monitored by Mi'raj News Agency (MINA).

     Doctors were treating some 50 people wounded in the explosion, including dozens who were in critical condition, a hospital official said

     The media reported, Pakistan's umbrella Taliban faction claimed responsibility for what was the fourth deadly attack on politicians or political parties in three days as the country prepares to hold historic polls on May 11.

     Bilour, who served as railways minister in the outgoing government, escaped the Peshawar bombing with cuts and bruises. He was shown on television footage with blood splattered on his trousers after the attack.

     "At least nine people have been killed and 53 others wounded in the suicide bombing," senior police official Faisal Murad told Al Jazeera source.

     Bilour, whose brother the late ANP leader Bashir Bilour was assassinated by the Taliban last year, became a target after the Taliban posted a $100,000 ransom for the death of a film-maker behind a controversial anti-Islam film last year.

     The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, but apologised for injuring Bilour, saying it had been targeting his nephew, Haroon.

      "We apologise to Ghulam Bilour because we announced an amnesty for him," Ehsanullah Ehsan, Taliban spokesman, told a France news agency by telephone from an undisclosed location. "Our target was Haroon Bilour," Ehsan say.

      Haroon is the son of slain ANP leader Bashir, the elder brother of Ghulam, who was killed in a bombing attack at a political meeting in Peshawar on December 22.

      The Taliban has directly threatened the ANP and its outgoing coalition partners, the Pakistan People's Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which are perceived as secular. (T/P09/P03)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)

      Colombo, 2 Jumadil Akhir/11 April 2013 (MINA) – The U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka expressed apprehensive at rising hate speech and attacks against Muslims in the island nation and warned that such sentiments should not be allowed to fester.

      IINA News Agency as monitored by Mi'raj News Agency (MINA) reported that hate speeches, vilification and even attacks on Muslim-owned businesses and places of worship by Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalist groups have occurred in recent months, and inaction by the government and police has spurred allegations that the government supports the campaign, which it denies.

       “The United States, along with many Sri Lankan citizens, is alarmed by the recent attacks on Muslim businesses and certain inflammatory calls to action,” Ambassador Michele J. Sison told foreign correspondents in Colombo on Monday. “This type of hateful sentiment must not be allowed to fester,” she said, adding that the voices of tolerance must join to defeat extremism.A U.S.-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka at the U.N. Human Rights Council last month also expressed concern over religious discrimination.

      The media reported, groups led by Buddhist monks have spread allegations that Muslims are dominating businesses and trying to take over the country demographically by increasing their birthrate and secretly sterilizing Sinhalese-Buddhists.

      Muslims make up 9 percent of Sri Lanka's population, while Sinhalese-Buddhists make up almost 75 percent of the country's 20 million people. A Muslim volunteer group that wishes not to be named for fear of reprisals has documented 33 incidents since 2011 including attacks on places of worship.

      Sison also expressed concern over continued threats and attacks against local media nearly four years after the end of a civil war and the authorities' inability to resolve the numerous killings, abductions and assaults against journalists. “I know that this room full of journalists is only too aware that attacks against the media continue to this day, and that suspects are rarely apprehended - or, if apprehended, are almost never convicted,” she said.

      According to Amnesty International, at least 14 journalists and media staff have been killed by suspected government paramilitaries and rebels since the beginning of 2006. Others have been detained, tortured or have disappeared and 20 more have fled the country because of death threats, it said.

      The civil war waged by Tamil Tiger rebels to create an independent state ended in 2009 after government troops defeated the rebel group. Last week masked men armed with clubs attacked workers inside the Uthayan newspaper office in the country's former war zone. The newspaper that has supported self-rule for ethnic minority Tamils was targeted in frequent attacks during the civil war.(T/P05/P03)

Mi'raj News Agency (MINA)