Pakistan offers $5 million bounty for Taliban leaders

Pakistan on Monday offered rewards worth five million dollars for information leading to the capture, dead or alive, of the country's Taliban warlord Hakimullah Mehsud and 18 lieutenants.

The rewards for top-ranking Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants were offered in a black-and-white government advertisement on the front page of The News daily and flashed on Pakistani television channels on Sunday night.

Mehsud, who took on the leadership mantle after a US drone attack killed his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud in August, headed the list with 50 million Pakistan rupees (600,240 dollars) slapped on his head.

TTP has been blamed for some of the worst attacks in Pakistan, which have killed around 2,400 people in a deadly wave of carnage over the past two years.

The hardcore faction has also claimed responsibility for many strikes in a recent surge in bloodshed, in which more than 300 people died last month, as the military launched a ground offensive against the TTP in South Waziristan.

"Anyone who captures these people dead or alive or provides concrete information, the government will award them a cash reward," the advert said.

"The activities of these brutal people, who have no fear of God, are bringing a bad name -- not only to the Mehsud tribe but all tribesmen... and also give a bad name to Pakistan in the whole world," it said.

"These people certainly need just punishment. They are the killers of humanity. Help the government of Pakistan to annihilate them."

Wali-ur Rehman Mehsud, head of the Baitullah Mehsud faction in South Waziristan and considered a contender for the TTP succession, and Qari Hussain Mehsud, commander for his hometown, Kotkai, were also the subjects of 50-million-rupee awards.

Eleven other commanders had rewards of 20 million rupees and the government posted rewards of 10 million rupees each for five lesser-ranking militants.

Informants should contact the local administration or law enforcement agencies, said the advertisement, pledging full anonymity.

The rewards were offered less than a week after at least 118 people were killed last Wednesday when a massive car bomb flattened a market street in the northwest city of Peshawar in one of Pakistan's deadliest ever attacks.

Pakistan ground troops, backed by jet fighters and helicopter gunships, are pressing a major offensive against TTP strongholds into a third week in which they have massed outside Taliban bastions and fought in streets.

The United States has endorsed the offensive in the lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border, where US officials say al-Qaida and its allies are plotting terror attacks on the West.

In Pakistan last week, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton hit out against the government's silence on the whereabouts of al-Qaida leaders, saying it was "hard to believe" no one knew their location.
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Pakistan offers $5 million bounty for Taliban leaders

Pakistan on Monday offered rewards worth five million dollars for information leading to the capture, dead or alive, of the country's Taliban warlord Hakimullah Mehsud and 18 lieutenants.

The rewards for top-ranking Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants were offered in a black-and-white government advertisement on the front page of The News daily and flashed on Pakistani television channels on Sunday night.

Mehsud, who took on the leadership mantle after a US drone attack killed his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud in August, headed the list with 50 million Pakistan rupees (600,240 dollars) slapped on his head.

TTP has been blamed for some of the worst attacks in Pakistan, which have killed around 2,400 people in a deadly wave of carnage over the past two years.

The hardcore faction has also claimed responsibility for many strikes in a recent surge in bloodshed, in which more than 300 people died last month, as the military launched a ground offensive against the TTP in South Waziristan.

"Anyone who captures these people dead or alive or provides concrete information, the government will award them a cash reward," the advert said.

"The activities of these brutal people, who have no fear of God, are bringing a bad name -- not only to the Mehsud tribe but all tribesmen... and also give a bad name to Pakistan in the whole world," it said.

"These people certainly need just punishment. They are the killers of humanity. Help the government of Pakistan to annihilate them."

Wali-ur Rehman Mehsud, head of the Baitullah Mehsud faction in South Waziristan and considered a contender for the TTP succession, and Qari Hussain Mehsud, commander for his hometown, Kotkai, were also the subjects of 50-million-rupee awards.

Eleven other commanders had rewards of 20 million rupees and the government posted rewards of 10 million rupees each for five lesser-ranking militants.

Informants should contact the local administration or law enforcement agencies, said the advertisement, pledging full anonymity.

The rewards were offered less than a week after at least 118 people were killed last Wednesday when a massive car bomb flattened a market street in the northwest city of Peshawar in one of Pakistan's deadliest ever attacks.

Pakistan ground troops, backed by jet fighters and helicopter gunships, are pressing a major offensive against TTP strongholds into a third week in which they have massed outside Taliban bastions and fought in streets.

The United States has endorsed the offensive in the lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border, where US officials say al-Qaida and its allies are plotting terror attacks on the West.

In Pakistan last week, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton hit out against the government's silence on the whereabouts of al-Qaida leaders, saying it was "hard to believe" no one knew their location.
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India wait on Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir

Big Picture

When this seven-match ODI series is finished, it's likely that what lingers in the memory the longest is not MS Dhoni's century in Nagpur, or the consistency of Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting, but how the teams lost key players to injury after every contest and had to make do with thinning resources and last-minute reinforcements. Not one of the first three fixtures was contested by two full-strength elevens and both India and Australia are further depleted ahead of the fourth game at the PCA Stadium in Mohali.

India's latest setbacks occurred at the Feroz Shah Kotla, where Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag picked up injuries, making them doubtful starters for the Mohali game. Gambhir was struck on the neck by a full-blooded pull from Ponting while fielding at short leg and a yorker from Peter Siddle crashed into Sehwag's foot. Only on the morning of the game will it be known whether either batsman will be fit to play.

Australia, meanwhile, had a third player from their original tour party flying home because of injury. James Hopes picked up a hamstring strain in the first one-dayer, remained with the squad longer than fellow casualties Brett Lee and Tim Paine, but hadn't recovered quickly enough for him to be able to play the remaining ODIs. Clint McKay, the Victoria seamer, was the latest addition to the Australian squad after Moises Henriques and Graham Manou. Mitchell Johnson seems to be pulling through the series despite a sore ankle. Other national hopefuls might be watching tomorrow's match thinking they might be next to receive a call from Andrew Hilditch.

The schedule isn't kind to the injured either. The teams left the Kotla only at midnight after Saturday's game. Their arrival in Chandigarh was delayed and by the time they reached, there were fewer than 24 hours to go before Dhoni and Ponting are scheduled to toss. Provided both of them remain injury-free of course.

The added incentive to tomorrow's contest is that if India win, they will claim the No. 1 ranking in one-day internationals. If Australia prevail, they will stretch their current one-point lead to three.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)

Australia - LLWWW
India - WWLWL

Watch out for ...

Ricky Ponting: The Delhi pitch was tough for batting, the squad was inexperienced and depleted by injury, and in the interest of team balance Australia decided not to play specialist opener Shaun Marsh. They needed someone to partner Shane Watson at the top and Ponting took on the responsibility. It was only the second time he was opening in his 327-ODI career and he fought the conditions and batted with restraint to score his second half-century of the series. "I'm obviously the most experienced player in our side and to put one of the other guys up to open the innings I thought would have been more of a challenge for them than it would be for me," Ponting said. He is likely to open again.

The Yuvraj-Dhoni partnership: Their 148-run partnership won India the Delhi game on a pitch that was difficult for shot-playing. The PCA Stadium surface is likely to be much flatter and faster and, if Yuvraj and Dhoni should spend considerable time in each other's company, they could render Australia helpless once again. Yuvraj will also be playing in front of his home crowd, something he said he was looking forward to very much while collecting his Man-of-the-Match award at the Kotla.

Team news

India will decide on Sehwag and Gambhir's participation only on Monday morning and have brought in wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik as cover. Virat Kohli, who played in Vadodara but was dropped thereafter, is the other batsman in the squad. They might have wanted to rest Sachin Tendulkar, whom Yuvraj referred to in jest as the "grandfather" of the dressing room, because of the one-day gap between matches but that is now unlikely. The bowling attack is settling down nicely and doesn't need changing.

India(probable): 1 Virender Sehwag/Dinesh Karthik, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir/Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Ponting said that Australia fielded the XI they did in Delhi in order to maintain team balance - playing Marsh would mean one less bowler - and they could be unchanged, with the captain opening the innings again.

Australia: (probable): 1 Shane Watson, 2 Ricky Ponting (capt), 3 Michael Hussey, 4 Cameron White, 5 Adam Voges, 6 Moises Henriques, 7 Graham Manou (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Peter Siddle, 11 Doug Bollinger.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch at the PCA Stadium, like most of those in India, would ordinarily be a win-toss-and-bat surface. However, with the onset of winter, the significant difference between day and night temperatures will result in heavy dew in the evenings. Nathan Hauritz struggled during his spell in Delhi, and Adam Voges bowled only one over because he couldn't grip the ball. If the pitch looks like it will stay good for batting for 100 overs, the captain winning the toss could be tempted to bowl first to give his bowlers the benefit of a dry ball.

Stats and trivia

• India have won five out of eight ODIs they've played at the PCA Stadium. However, they lost their last two matches there, against Pakistan in 2007, and against Australia in the 2006 Champions Trophy. Australia have played four ODIs in Mohali and won three.

• No Indian batsman has scored a hundred in an ODI in Mohali. Tendulkar's 99 against Pakistan in 2007 is the highest. Tendulkar is the highest scorer at the venue, with 241 runs at an average of 60.25.

• Harbhajan Singh, another local lad, has taken seven wickets at 24.71 apiece in four matches in Mohali. He has an economy-rate of 4.91 there.

Quotes

"If it looks like everyone's fit and ready for the next game there's probably every chance that I'll open again."
Ponting is prepared to lead from the front again.

"Plan? We are in fact tired of planning celebrations for him. Every week, the guy goes on to make some record or other. How many times can you celebrate?"
Yuvraj's reply when asked if the team had plans to celebrate should Tendulkar score the 47 he needs to reach 17,000 ODI runs in Mohali.

George Binoy is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo

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India wait on Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir

Big Picture

When this seven-match ODI series is finished, it's likely that what lingers in the memory the longest is not MS Dhoni's century in Nagpur, or the consistency of Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting, but how the teams lost key players to injury after every contest and had to make do with thinning resources and last-minute reinforcements. Not one of the first three fixtures was contested by two full-strength elevens and both India and Australia are further depleted ahead of the fourth game at the PCA Stadium in Mohali.

India's latest setbacks occurred at the Feroz Shah Kotla, where Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag picked up injuries, making them doubtful starters for the Mohali game. Gambhir was struck on the neck by a full-blooded pull from Ponting while fielding at short leg and a yorker from Peter Siddle crashed into Sehwag's foot. Only on the morning of the game will it be known whether either batsman will be fit to play.

Australia, meanwhile, had a third player from their original tour party flying home because of injury. James Hopes picked up a hamstring strain in the first one-dayer, remained with the squad longer than fellow casualties Brett Lee and Tim Paine, but hadn't recovered quickly enough for him to be able to play the remaining ODIs. Clint McKay, the Victoria seamer, was the latest addition to the Australian squad after Moises Henriques and Graham Manou. Mitchell Johnson seems to be pulling through the series despite a sore ankle. Other national hopefuls might be watching tomorrow's match thinking they might be next to receive a call from Andrew Hilditch.

The schedule isn't kind to the injured either. The teams left the Kotla only at midnight after Saturday's game. Their arrival in Chandigarh was delayed and by the time they reached, there were fewer than 24 hours to go before Dhoni and Ponting are scheduled to toss. Provided both of them remain injury-free of course.

The added incentive to tomorrow's contest is that if India win, they will claim the No. 1 ranking in one-day internationals. If Australia prevail, they will stretch their current one-point lead to three.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)

Australia - LLWWW
India - WWLWL

Watch out for ...

Ricky Ponting: The Delhi pitch was tough for batting, the squad was inexperienced and depleted by injury, and in the interest of team balance Australia decided not to play specialist opener Shaun Marsh. They needed someone to partner Shane Watson at the top and Ponting took on the responsibility. It was only the second time he was opening in his 327-ODI career and he fought the conditions and batted with restraint to score his second half-century of the series. "I'm obviously the most experienced player in our side and to put one of the other guys up to open the innings I thought would have been more of a challenge for them than it would be for me," Ponting said. He is likely to open again.

The Yuvraj-Dhoni partnership: Their 148-run partnership won India the Delhi game on a pitch that was difficult for shot-playing. The PCA Stadium surface is likely to be much flatter and faster and, if Yuvraj and Dhoni should spend considerable time in each other's company, they could render Australia helpless once again. Yuvraj will also be playing in front of his home crowd, something he said he was looking forward to very much while collecting his Man-of-the-Match award at the Kotla.

Team news

India will decide on Sehwag and Gambhir's participation only on Monday morning and have brought in wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik as cover. Virat Kohli, who played in Vadodara but was dropped thereafter, is the other batsman in the squad. They might have wanted to rest Sachin Tendulkar, whom Yuvraj referred to in jest as the "grandfather" of the dressing room, because of the one-day gap between matches but that is now unlikely. The bowling attack is settling down nicely and doesn't need changing.

India(probable): 1 Virender Sehwag/Dinesh Karthik, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir/Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Ponting said that Australia fielded the XI they did in Delhi in order to maintain team balance - playing Marsh would mean one less bowler - and they could be unchanged, with the captain opening the innings again.

Australia: (probable): 1 Shane Watson, 2 Ricky Ponting (capt), 3 Michael Hussey, 4 Cameron White, 5 Adam Voges, 6 Moises Henriques, 7 Graham Manou (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Peter Siddle, 11 Doug Bollinger.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch at the PCA Stadium, like most of those in India, would ordinarily be a win-toss-and-bat surface. However, with the onset of winter, the significant difference between day and night temperatures will result in heavy dew in the evenings. Nathan Hauritz struggled during his spell in Delhi, and Adam Voges bowled only one over because he couldn't grip the ball. If the pitch looks like it will stay good for batting for 100 overs, the captain winning the toss could be tempted to bowl first to give his bowlers the benefit of a dry ball.

Stats and trivia

• India have won five out of eight ODIs they've played at the PCA Stadium. However, they lost their last two matches there, against Pakistan in 2007, and against Australia in the 2006 Champions Trophy. Australia have played four ODIs in Mohali and won three.

• No Indian batsman has scored a hundred in an ODI in Mohali. Tendulkar's 99 against Pakistan in 2007 is the highest. Tendulkar is the highest scorer at the venue, with 241 runs at an average of 60.25.

• Harbhajan Singh, another local lad, has taken seven wickets at 24.71 apiece in four matches in Mohali. He has an economy-rate of 4.91 there.

Quotes

"If it looks like everyone's fit and ready for the next game there's probably every chance that I'll open again."
Ponting is prepared to lead from the front again.

"Plan? We are in fact tired of planning celebrations for him. Every week, the guy goes on to make some record or other. How many times can you celebrate?"
Yuvraj's reply when asked if the team had plans to celebrate should Tendulkar score the 47 he needs to reach 17,000 ODI runs in Mohali.

George Binoy is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo

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K'taka crisis deepens, political blackmail begins

New Delhi: The ongoing political crisis in Karnataka has placed a question mark on the BS Yeddyurappa-led BJP government in the state.

The Reddy brothers who are leading the rebellion in the state have arrived in Delhi with a list of demands and conditions that amount to a virtual blackmail of the state government.

The list of their demands include:

• The state home minister should be someone of the choice of the Reddy brothers.

• There must be a complete revamp of the administration in Bellary, which is the Reddy stronghold.

• All cases against the Reddy brothers and their supporters in connection with a kidnapping incident in a local contract case must be withdrawn.

• The government must speedily process permissions for all projects in which the Reddy brothers have interests.

• The government must also give a percentage of advertising revenue to Sakshi Group, a media outfit controlled by YSR Reddy's son Jagan Reddy, a business partner of the Bellary brothers.

Meanwhile, party top brass LK Advani, Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar have held a series of meetings to come to a conclusion in this matter.

Speaking on the ongoing tussle, one of the Reddy brothers Janardhan Reddy said, “Our top BJP leaders will make the best informed decision for the state.”

Special representative to the Karnataka government Dhananjay Kumar spoke to CNN-IBN and he remained confident that there won't be any change in the party leadership.

“Party has categorically said that there will be no change in the leadership in Karnataka. Party is united. Crisis in Karnataka government is not engineered by the BJP. Reddy brothers are in Delhi and all their issues will be amicably solved by the party leadership,” he said.

Who are the Reddys?

They were entrepreneurs in Bellary in 1999 when Congress President Sonia Gandhi first contested Lok Sabha polls.

In 2002, Janardhana Reddy turned to iron ore mining. As prices boomed, their fortunes soared.

In 2004 Lok Sabha polls, Karunakara Reddy took Bellary seat from Congress and retained it in 2009.

Reddy brothers helped Yeddyurappa get majority in May 2008 Assembly polls.

Read more »

K'taka crisis deepens, political blackmail begins

New Delhi: The ongoing political crisis in Karnataka has placed a question mark on the BS Yeddyurappa-led BJP government in the state.

The Reddy brothers who are leading the rebellion in the state have arrived in Delhi with a list of demands and conditions that amount to a virtual blackmail of the state government.

The list of their demands include:

• The state home minister should be someone of the choice of the Reddy brothers.

• There must be a complete revamp of the administration in Bellary, which is the Reddy stronghold.

• All cases against the Reddy brothers and their supporters in connection with a kidnapping incident in a local contract case must be withdrawn.

• The government must speedily process permissions for all projects in which the Reddy brothers have interests.

• The government must also give a percentage of advertising revenue to Sakshi Group, a media outfit controlled by YSR Reddy's son Jagan Reddy, a business partner of the Bellary brothers.

Meanwhile, party top brass LK Advani, Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar have held a series of meetings to come to a conclusion in this matter.

Speaking on the ongoing tussle, one of the Reddy brothers Janardhan Reddy said, “Our top BJP leaders will make the best informed decision for the state.”

Special representative to the Karnataka government Dhananjay Kumar spoke to CNN-IBN and he remained confident that there won't be any change in the party leadership.

“Party has categorically said that there will be no change in the leadership in Karnataka. Party is united. Crisis in Karnataka government is not engineered by the BJP. Reddy brothers are in Delhi and all their issues will be amicably solved by the party leadership,” he said.

Who are the Reddys?

They were entrepreneurs in Bellary in 1999 when Congress President Sonia Gandhi first contested Lok Sabha polls.

In 2002, Janardhana Reddy turned to iron ore mining. As prices boomed, their fortunes soared.

In 2004 Lok Sabha polls, Karunakara Reddy took Bellary seat from Congress and retained it in 2009.

Reddy brothers helped Yeddyurappa get majority in May 2008 Assembly polls.

Read more »

Mamata slams Buddhadeb, says he 'misled' nation on abducted cops

NEW DELHI: Demanding information on two policemen missing for months, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday met the home minister
and then accused West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee of misleading the country. The two cops were abducted by Maoists on July 30.
"I along the families of two missing constables met the home minister. He said he was upset and equally concerned. Though law and order is a state subject, he assured of all possible help in searching for them," Banerjee said after meeting Chidambaram here.

The two constables Kanchan Garai and Sabir Ali Mollah had been whisked away by Maoists on July 30 from West Midnapore district, and there has been no trace of them since. Last Saturday at a press conference here, Bhattacharjee made a remark regarding the "death" of two policemen.

That created a furore in the state, though the chief minister and his officials promptly said he was not referring to these two constables.

Banerjee said Bhattacharjee had misled the country.

"West Bengal chief minister has misled the country, distorted the facts and misled the people and families of abducted policemen. It's a matter of great concern," she said.

The Trinamool Congress leader also demanded an explanation on how the two policemen were abducted during the joint operations against Maoists in the restive Lalgarh region of the state.

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