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OTTAWA: Canada on Tuesday conferred honorary citizenship to
Myanmar pro-democracy activist and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi,
while demanding her release from house arrest in her homeland. Suu
Kyi “personifies the struggle to bring freedom, democracy, human
rights and the rule of law” to Myanmar, said Foreign Minister
Maxime Bernier in presenting a framed certificate to Suu Kyi’s
cousin, Sein Win.
WASHINGTON: The United States said Monday it
wanted Pakistan to live up to its commitment of urgently bringing
security under control in its remote tribal areas allegedly used as
a safe haven by al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. The call came amid
worries in Washington that the new coalition government led by Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, which is negotiating with a Taliban
commander, may strike a deal with militants and undermine a long
“war on terror” partnership.
BAGHDAD: A pullout of 3,500 American troops from
Iraq was underway on Tuesday, the US military said, amid diplomatic
contacts between Baghdad and Tehran to stem the surge in deadly
street battles with Shiite militias. The American forces in Baghdad
announced that the soldiers who came as part of a controversial
“surge” in February 2007 would complete a return to their base
in Fort Benning in Georgia over the next several weeks.
-- AFP
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