October, 2008

• 6 October

  U.S. to allies: Fight in Afghanistan or write check

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has asked Japan and NATO allies who have refused to send troops to Afghanistan to pay the estimated $17 billion needed to build up the Afghan army, according to U.S. defense officials.

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• 6 October

  Afghan war cannot be won militarily: U.N.

  KABUL (Reuters) – The war in Afghanistan cannot be won militarily and success is only possible through political means including dialogue between all relevant parties, the United Nation’s top official in the country said on Monday.

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• 6 October

  General to NATO: “Give me a break” on Afghan drugs

  BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO’s top operations commander hit out Monday at allies resisting his call for the alliance to use more aggressive tactics against Afghan drug production.

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• 6 October

  Pakistan tells Afghan refugees to quit battle zone

  KHAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani authorities have begun expelling Afghan refugees from a tribal region that has become the main battleground between troops and fighters linked to the Taliban and al Qaeda, officials said on Monday.

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• 6 October

  Suicide attack on Pakistani politician kills 12

  BHAKKAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed at least 12 people and wounded around 30 including a leading Pakistani opposition politician and member of the minority Shi’ite Muslim community on Monday, police said.

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• 6 October

  Iraq hopes shrine rebuild can reconcile sects

  SAMARRA, Iraq (Reuters) – A ring of scaffolding around charred bricks is all that now stands in place of the golden dome that adorned one of Shi’ite Islam’s holiest shrines.

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• 6 October

  Afghanistan begins registering voters for 2009 election

  KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan began registering voters on Monday for elections due next year that will test support for President Hamid Karzai and democracy itself which is threatened by a virulent Taliban insurgency in which thousands have died.

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• 6 October

  Bosnians vote along ethnic lines in local polls

  SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Bosnian Serbs, Muslims and Croats voted mostly along ethnic party lines in a local election Sunday, keeping them in power some 13 years after the war, preliminary results showed early Monday.

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• 6 October

  Egypt blocks Gaza protest attempt

  Police in Egypt have blocked a convoy organised by opposition groups to carry medical supplies to the Gaza Strip. The convoy had been due to leave from the journalists’ syndicate in central Cairo but activists gathering there were surrounded by police.

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• 6 October

  Livni says ‘Annapolis’ peace talks will continue

  Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has underlined her commitment to continue peace talks.Greeting French counterpart Bernard Kouchner, the Israeli Prime Minister-in-waiting said she would press ahead with US-sponsored peace negotiations.

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