KABUL: US Secretary of State John Kerry met Afghan businesswomen running companies involved in everything from trucking to computer software who fear losing their rights, security and customers when foreign forces leave next year. Kerry spent close to an hour at the US embassy in Kabul with the entrepreneurs to show US commitment to women’s rights — at one point heading a soccer ball with a 22-year-old female player. He voiced amazement at accomplishments of women. “Everybody’s a tycoon,” he exclaimed. Businesswomen voiced concern that the withdrawal of most foreign troops from Afghanistan in 2014, and the election of a new president the same year will undercut security and inhibit their ability to run their businesses.
Ashraf gears up to lead campaign
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf is gearing up to lead the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) poll campaign and is in consultation with senior leaders of the party at his private residence in Islamabad where he shifted after relinquishing the office. Yesterday, Ashraf, also PPPP Secretary General, held talks with President Asif Ali Zardari on the political situation and election. No major corruption scandal occurred during his nine-month tenure as the prime minister.
EU mission to oversee polls
ISLAMABAD: European Union has decided to send a strong election observation mission (EOM) to Pakistan to monitor the next general elections. European Union High Representative and Vice President of the European Commission, Catherine Ashton, on Tuesday authorised the EOM. A member of the European Parliament will lead the observation mission as its Chief Observer. The EOM will include up to 110 members, including a core team of eleven experts, election analyst, political analyst, legal analyst, human rights analyst, media analyst and others. On the basis of special agreements with the EU, observers will be from Norway, Switzerland, Canada and other member states.
Australia to pull out most troops
Sydney: Australia announced its intention to withdraw most of its 1,550 troops from Afghanistan at the end of this year and shut down a major base for Nato-led forces, handing security to Afghan soldiers and police. Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith said Western and Afghan commanders had agreed that the major multinational coalition base at Tarin Kowt and its Nato airbase in Uruzgan province would close at the end of 2013. “We’ve been there for over a decade, and that’s far too long,” Smith said, adding the war was “the easiest thing in the world to get in, hardest thing in the world to get out”.
Seven killed in road mishap
Islamabad: Seven people were killed and 15 injured when a bus collided with a trailer near Bhalwal Tehsil of Sargodha in Eastern Pakistan, Dunya News said. The bus carrying 45 passengers was heading towards Bhera from Rajanpur when it collided with the trailer near Ajnala station. The injured were taken to hospital in Sargodha. Agencies
