Titles:

• Greek Euro Exit Would Be Disaster, Papaconstantinou Tells Stampa
• Syria tanks ‘shell’ protest city of Homs
• Gulf bloc welcomes more kings, demands Yemen deal
• US to withdraw 70,000 troops from Afghanistan in next three years in favour of special forces
• India puts Pakistani army officers on “most wanted” list
• Malaysian Prime Minister: Accept Islam as the official religion

News Details:

Greek Euro Exit Would Be Disaster, Papaconstantinou Tells Stampa
Abandoning the euro would be a disaster for Greece, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told the Italian newspaper La Stampa in an interview this week. “Consequences would be catastrophic,” Papaconstantinou told the newspaper, saying public debt would double, consumers’ purchasing power would be “shattered,” banks would collapse and the country would fall into a “war-like recession.” The country will continue implementing its recovery plan, Papaconstantinou told the newspaper. Should that not be enough, Greece may ask for intervention from the European Financial Stability Facility in 2012, he said.

Syria tanks ‘shell’ protest city of Homs
Tanks have been shelling Syria’s third biggest city, Homs, as security forces continue their crackdown on nationwide anti-government protests, BBC reports say. Activists said there had been gunfire and explosions in the district of Bab Amr and nearby villages, killing at least nine people and wounding dozens. Towns around the southern city of Deraa have been raided and the coastal town of Baniyas remains cut off. Thousands have reportedly been arrested and hundreds killed in the crackdown.The Syrian government has insisted it is pursuing “armed terrorist gangs”, and blamed them for the deaths of two soldiers on Wednesday. Meanwhile, international pressure has caused Syria to drop its plans to run for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. Kuwait would take its place, India’s deputy permanent representative Manjeev Singh Puri said.UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on President Bashar al-Assad to “heed calls for reform and freedom and to desist from excessive force and mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators”.Mr Ban said he was disappointed that a UN humanitarian team had not yet been allowed into Deraa, where the unrest began in mid-March.

Gulf bloc welcomes more kings, demands Yemen deal
The six Gulf monarchies Tuesday responded to Arab uprisings by agreeing to expand their regional grouping to include pro-Western Jordan and Morocco and urged a quick political deal in Yemen.The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) welcomed bids by the two Arab kingdoms to join the six-nation grouping of Gulf monarchies, its secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani said. “Leaders of the GCC welcomed the request of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to join the council and instructed the foreign ministers to enter into negotiations to complete the procedures,” Zayani told reporters.He said the same procedure would be followed with Morocco.His remarks came after a summit in Riyadh of the GCC, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, discussed relations with Iran, the unrest in Yemen — the Arabian Peninsula’s only republican state — and the tensions sweeping the region. The heads of state demanded that all sides in Yemen, which has limited observer status in the GCC, sign a transition plan brokered by the bloc. “The council urged all parties in Yemen to sign the agreement which is the best way out of the crisis and spare the country further political division and deterioration of security,” the GCC leaders said in a joint statement.

US to withdraw 70,000 troops from Afghanistan in next three years in favour of special forces
America would withdraw 70,000 troops from Afghanistan over the next three years and rely increasingly on special forces to lead operations in plans being discussed by the White House. America has 100,000 troops in Afghanistan and the killing of Osama bin Laden has rekindled debate on how many are needed now al Qaeda has been decapitated. The US has become increasingly reliant on special forces troops in the 12 months, with Gen David Petraeus crediting raids against militant leaders with helping blunt Taliban momentum. He has also used units to train Afghanistan’s own special forces and help raise Afghan local police militia units. Advocates of special forces teams have also been emboldened by the success of the US Navy SEALS operation against bin Laden. Leon Panetta, the CIA director nominated to replace Robert Gates as defence secretary, is also said to favour use of special forces and unmanned drones rather than large numbers of troops waging a costly, counter insurgency campaign. Under the outline plan, America would keep 20,000 to 30,000 troops on the ground by the end of 2014, when Nato has said it will hand over the combat lead to Kabul.

India puts Pakistani army officers on “most wanted” list
India has named five Pakistani army officers in a list of 50 criminals it wants extradited to stand trial on terror charges, the first time India has directly accused serving Pakistani military officers of being involved with militancy. The “most-wanted list” was handed to Pakistan in March, but its contents have only just been released. The timing of the release coincides with increasing pressure on Pakistan over claims it harbored Osama bin Laden. Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai presented the list to his Pakistani counterpart, Qamar Zaman Choudhary, during a meeting in March, a senior government official with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. New Delhi has long accused Pakistan of harboring militants such as the those behind the Mumbai attacks in 2008 that killed 166 people, who it says were supported by the country’s military intelligence agency, the ISI. In addition to five serving majors in the Pakistan army, the list includes accused underworld leader Dawood Ibrahim, and suspected members of militant groups al Qaeda, Lakshar-e-Toiba and Jasih-e-Mohammed.

Malaysian Prime Minister: Accept Islam as the official religion
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said everyone must accept the fact that Islam is the official religion of the country and that it cannot be changed in whatever form. “This is because the reality is that we have the Federal Constitution and its provision on the position of Islam and the other religions is very clear,” Najib told the media after meeting with 22 Muslim leaders and intellectuals, here today. “Under whatever circumstances, the Federal Constitution cannot be amended and as such, no one should be worried or feel uneasy on this matter,” he said. Najib said that during his hour-long meeting with the Muslim leaders, several current issues were discussed including the issue on “changing” the official religion of the country as reported earlier.”I normally meet with the Muslim leaders from time to time. But under the present circumstances, it is most important for me to meet this group and we again discuss the issue as well as other things,” he said.

08 Rabi’ II 1432
2011/05/12