Pak denies US charge

REUTERS

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday rejected US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta’s recent comments on militant safe havens in Pakistan, a move that could intensify tensions between troubled allies Islamabad and Washington. “We feel that the Secretary of Defence is oversimplifying some of the very complex issues we are all dealing with in our efforts against extremism and terrorism,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We strongly believe that such statements are misplaced and unhelpful in bringing about peace and stability in the region.” Panetta said on Thursday during a trip to Afghanistan that stabilisation efforts in Afghanistan would remain difficult as long as militants had safe havens in Pakistan.

Myanmar ups security

SITTWE: Myanmar sent troops and naval vessels to the western state of Rakhine on Saturday after seven people died in the worst fighting in years between minority Muslim Rohingya and Buddhists. A senior government official said hundreds of Rohingya had rioted yesterday in Buddhist communities and an overnight curfew had been imposed in Maungdaw Township. It was not clear what had sparked the unrest.

ICC delegation held

TRIPOLI: A delegation for the International Criminal Court has been detained in Libya after one of its lawyers was found to be carrying suspicious documents for Moammar Gadhafi’s captured son Saif al-Islam, a Libyan lawyer said on Saturday. The Australian lawyer, Melinda Taylor, was part of an ICC delegation that had travelled to the small western town of Zintan, where Saif al-Islam has been detained since his desert capture in November, to meet him.