February 8th Morning Readbook

Afghanistan's influential elders




Senior Afghan policeman held over planting bombs
A senior Afghan policeman has been arrested in connection with planting and storing roadside bombs, Nato officials said.


INTERVIEW-NATO, Afghans to hold Taliban bastion "forever"
NATO forces and their Afghan allies will hold territory seized from the Taliban in an imminent major operation "forever", the commander of British forces in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province said.


India-Pakistan thaw key to Afghan peace 
India has proposed the first high-level bilateral talks with Pakistan since their peace process broke down following the terrorist attack on Mumbai in November 2008.


Al-Qaeda is a wounded but dangerous enemy
In the past six weeks, Americans have witnessed two jarringly different -- but completely accurate -- views of al-Qaeda's terrorist network. One image was that of terrorist leaders being hunted down and killed by satellite-guided, pilotless aircraft. The other was of an agile foe slipping past U.S. defenses and increasingly intent on striking inside the United States.


Iraq's parliament delays debate over candidates ban
The Iraqi parliament postponed to Monday an extraordinary session due to be held on Sunday to discuss the decision of an appeals panel to allow hundreds of banned candidates to run in the March 7 parliamentary elections.


Iraq terrorist group kidnap two Americans
The terrorist group responsible for the deaths of at least three British security contractors in Iraq says it has now seized two Americans. "The League of the Righteous " has already released a video of one of the men, an Iraqi-American named as Issa Salomi, a civilian employed by the Pentagon. Mr Salomi went missing on January 23. The identity of the second hostage has not been made clear, but it is thought it could be another Iraqi-American, an army sergeant who disappeared while on an unauthorised visit to his family in 2006.


Iran to enrich uranium to 20% as nuclear fears grow
Iran has announced immediate plans to step up its nuclear programme, which Western nations fear could be used to make a bomb.


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