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Al-Qaida: Clinton Blasts Pakistan
US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton is suggesting that Pakistan’s government has squandered chances to kill or capture al-Qaida leaders.
She made the remark in an interview yesterday with Pakistani journalists during a trip to the city of Lahore. She later flew to the capital, Islamabad, for talks with army chief and additional meetings.
Clinton said al-Qaida has used Pakistan as a haven since 2002. She said she finds it hard to believe that nobody in Pakistan’s government knows where the leaders of Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network are hiding.
She also said she finds it hard to believe that Pakistani authorities couldn’t “get them” if they wanted to.
Clinton said that Pakistan had little choice but to take a more aggressive approach to combating the Pakistani Taliban and other insurgents that threaten to destabilize the country.
With the country reeling from Wednesday’s devastating bombing that killed at least 105 people in Peshawar, Clinton engaged in an intense give-and-take with students at the Government College of Lahore, insisting that inaction by the government would have ceded ground to terrorists.
“If you want to see your territory shrink, that’s your choice,” she said, adding that she believed it would be a bad choice.
Dozens of students rushed to line up for the microphone when the session began. Their questions were not hostile, but showed a strong sense of doubt that the U.S. can be a reliable and trusted partner for Pakistan.
Clinton met with the students on the second day of a three-day visit to Pakistan, her first as secretary of state. The Peshawar bombing, set off in a market crowded with women and children, appeared timed to overshadow her arrival. It was the deadliest attack in Pakistan since 2007.
Clinton likened Pakistan’s situation — with Taliban forces taking over substantial swaths of land in the Swat valley and in areas along the Afghan border — to a theoretical advance of terrorists into the United States from across the Canadian border.
It would be unthinkable, she said, for the U.S. government to decide, “Let them have Washington (state)” first, then Montana, then the sparsely populated Dakotas, because those states are far from the major centers of population and power on the East Coast.
Clinton was responding to a student who suggested that Washington was forcing Pakistan to use military force on its own territory. It was one of several questions from the students that raised doubts about the relationship between the United States and Pakistan.
During her hour-long appearance at the college, Clinton stressed that a key purpose of her three-day visit to Pakistan, which began Wednesday, was to reach out to ordinary Pakistanis and urge a better effort to bridge differences and improve mutual understanding.
“We are now at a point where we can chart a different course,” she said, referring to past differences over an absence of democracy in Pakistan and Pakistani association with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
As a way of repudiating past U.S. policies toward Pakistan, Clinton told the students “there is a huge difference” between the Obama administration’s approach and that of former President George W. Bush.
“I spent my entire eight years in the Senate opposing him,” she said to a burst of applause from the audience of several hundred students. “So, to me, it’s like daylight and dark.”
Although Clinton said she was making a priority of engaging frankly and openly on her visit, she declined to talk about a subject that has stirred some of the strongest feelings of anti-Americanism here — U.S. drone aircraft attacks against extremist targets on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border.
The Obama administration routinely refuses to acknowledge publicly that the attacks are taking place.
“There is a war going on,” she said, and the U.S. wants to help Pakistan be successful.
The drone attacks have killed a number of Pakistani civilians, while also reportedly succeeding in eliminating some high-level Taliban and other extremist group leaders.
At the same time, though, the U.S. has been providing Pakistani commanders with video images and target information from its military drones as Pakistan’s army pushes its ground offensive in Waziristan, U.S. officials said earlier this week.
Also sensitive is the way the U.S. has handled millions of dollars in aid to the Pakistani military. The U.S. in recent months has rushed helicopters and other military equipment to the country as Islamabad has launched its counterinsurgency offensives in Swat Valley and South Waziristan.
The administration sped the delivery of 10 Mi-17 troop transport helicopters starting in June, and in July sent 200 night vision goggles, nearly more than 9,000 sets of body armor, several hundred radios and other equipment.
“We’ve put military assistance to Pakistan on a wartime footing,” Lt. Col. Mark Wright, a Pentagon spokesman, said Thursday. “We are doing everything within our power to assist Pakistan in improving its counterinsurgency capability.”
This year the Pentagon plans to spend more than $500 million on arms and equipment for Islamabad as well as training Pakistan’s military in counterinsurgency tactics. Still, Pakistani officials last month complained that Congress attached too many conditions to the surge in aid.
Before flying to Lahore from Islamabad, Clinton visited the Bari Imam shrine, named after Shah Abdul Latif Kazmi, a 17th century Sufi saint who died in 1705 and later came to be known as the patron saint of Islamabad. A suicide bomber struck the shrine in May 2005, killing a number of people.
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The Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has directed his lawyers to withdraw all ongoing defamation lawsuits against several individuals, saying he was moved by counsel during a New Year Mass.
Speaking at the Sacred Heart Parish in Uyo, yesterday, Akpabio said he had filed nearly nine lawsuits against individuals he accused of defaming him.
He said, “I had almost nine cases in court against some individuals who defamed me, who lied against me, who slandered my name.
“But I listened to the priest and suddenly realised he was talking to me, so I hereby direct my solicitor to withdraw all lawsuits against them.”
In 2025, Akpabio had filed several high-profile defamation lawsuits, including one against colleague Senator Natasha Akpoti?Uduaghan.
In late 2025, Akpabio filed a N200 billion defamation lawsuit against her over allegations of sexual harassment, which he denied and urged her to substantiate in court.
Earlier in the year, Akpabio’s wife also filed defamation suits against Akpoti?Uduaghan over claims she said had harmed her family’s reputation.
Relations between the two lawmakers soured after Akpoti?Uduaghan accused Akpabio of influencing her suspension from the Senate in March 2025, following her public allegations of misconduct.
The Senator had previously challenged actions taken against her in court, including a N100 billion defamation suit she filed against Akpabio and other defendants over alleged remarks that she said damaged her reputation.
With yesterday’s announcement, Akpabio has formally ended all pending legal disputes arising from defamation claims, signalling closure to the publicised litigations as the year begins.
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has declared that the best form of gratitude Rivers people owe President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for protecting the interest of the State is to galvanize massive support for the President in 2027.
Fubara disclosed this last Monday during the commissioning of Permanent Secretaries Quarters built by his administration at Elimgbu in Obio Akpor Local Government Area of the State.
He said that the State has what it takes to deliver the President during the 2027 general elections.
“We’ve taken a decision,our decision is for the good of Rivers State, our decision is to say thank you for the protection we have from Mr President, our decision is to prove that we have what it takes to deliver Mr President.”
Fubara expressed delight over the completion of the project, stating that the initiative was to provide accommodation, a basic need of life for public servants in the state to improve their productivity.
He explained that lack of effective social welfare was at the root of some incriminating actions that undermine the purpose of governance, noting that the commissioning of the newly built Permanent Secretaries Quarters marks a significant milestone in civil service welfare and institutional development.
“Insecurity begins when individuals are uncertain of what the next hour holds. This situation is especially challenging for family men and women, affecting confidence and decision-making,” he observed.
Fubara emphasized the need for proper maintenance of the facility and urged the beneficiaries to protect the project like a personal property, while directing the State Head of Service to appoint a facility manager to ensure long-term maintenance.
In her remarks, the Special Guest of Honour and Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, who unveiled the project, expressed appreciation to the governor and Rivers State for inviting her to commission the project.
She commended Fubara for prioritizing the welfare of Permanent Secretaries who are senior public servants and accounting officers, noting that the project reflects purposeful and visionary leadership, and urged other states to borrow a cue from the Rivers State Governor.
Walson-Jack described the initiative as a strategic investment in staff welfare and institutional continuity which she noted is in line with Renewed Hope Initiative on provision of mass housing and social stability.
“The commissioning of these houses reflect a deliberate commitment to the dignity, welfare, and productivity of senior public servants responsible for policy coordination and service delivery,” she said.
In his goodwill message, the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ajibode Bashiru, who led a high powered delegation on a visit to the governor, congratulated Rivers people for aligning with the Pan Nigerian political party, assuring that the interest of Rivers State will be duly protected in the APC.
He described President Bola Tinubu as a detribalised Nigerian who anchors his leadership on equity, fairness and justice, adding that the APC will provide a level playing ground for all.
The APC chief scribe also commended Fubara for providing good accommodation for public servants, stating that it will address issues of sabotage, compromise and disloyalty on the part of public servants.
Giving the project description, Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Works, Dr. Austin Ezekiel-Hart, said the estate comprises 29 units, including nine standalone duplexes and 20 terrace buildings.
Facilities feature a water treatment plant, synchronized power generators, CCTV and alarm systems, a gym, recreational areas, and green spaces—designed to enhance comfort, performance, and productivity.
Earlier, the Head of the Rivers State Civil Service, Dr Mrs Inyingi Brown, had thanked the governor for his visionary initiative and unwavering commitment to the welfare of Rivers State Civil Servants, and restated the commitment of the State civil servants to the success of Fubara’s administration.
By: Taneh Beemene
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