Pakistan ordered U.S. Special Forces trainers to leave

WASHINGTON: Pakistan has ordered the departure of up to 20 percent of the roughly 150 U.S. Special Operations forces trainers in the wake of a series of clashes between the two governments, a U.S. military official said.

Between 25 and 30 trainers were “told to leave” in the weeks before the U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden this month, apparently in response to an earlier incident involving a CIA employee who shot and killed two Pakistanis in Lahore, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive relationship.

According the U.S. newspaper report nearly 150 trainers of U.S Special Forces were in Pakistan imparting training to the Frontier Corp troops. Out of that 25 to 30 have been ordered to leave Pakistan.

The report further quoted a Pakistani official telling that the order to the U.S experts leaving the country has not been given out of any grudge instead the reduction in their number has become imperative, as Pakistan now has trained instructors more than its requirements.

Blasts in NATO tankers, 16 dead in LandiKotal

LANDIKOTAL: NATO oil tankers were set ablaze in two separate incidents late Friday night at Landikotal and Torkham killing at least 16 people, including 8 members of a family.

The sources said in the first incident at 10:30 p.m. the militants torched a Nato oil tanker in Khugakhel area on the Landikotal bypass. The tanker was parked on the roadside when it was dynamited with a time device, the sources said.

Six people died immediately after the incident while injured were taken to hospitals where 10 more succumbed to their injuries.

Meanwhile, yhe second incident took place after a few minutes at Torkham where an explosive device went off in an oil tanker at the Torkham parking hub, officials said. Soon after the blast, the fire spread and engulfed three more oil tankers parked near it.

Dollar edges down in Asia

TOKYO: The dollar eased against the yen in Asia on Thursday after rising to its highest levels in three weeks as Japanese exporters sold the greenback, dealers said.

The dollar bought 81.55 yen in Tokyo morning trade, after topping 81.80 yen earlier Thursday.

The dollar traded at 81.64 yen in New York late Wednesday.The dollar lost ground due to selling by Japanese exporters, a senior dealer at a major Japanese bank told Dow Jones Newswires.

Although selling pressure has waned from the exporters in recent weeks after the massive March earthquake disrupted Japan's production activities, "they still get some dollars to sell from their regular activities," he said.

The euro fetched $1.4281 in Tokyo morning, up from $1.4236. Against the yen, the euro traded at 116.47 yen compared with 116.38 yen in New York.

The yen moved little after government data showed a much larger than expected decline in Japan's January-March gross domestic product (GDP) due to the impact of the March earthquake, tsunami and a nuclear crisis.

Official data released early Thursday showed Japan's economy plunged back into recession in January-March, contracting by a much worse-than-expected annualised 3.7 percent in the first three months of the year.But attention is to be focused more closely on the expected broader impact for the April-June quarter and intervening monthly trade data, said Daisuke Karakama, market economist at Mizuho Corporate Bank.

"If the trade data shows Japan's exports deteriorating, the yen will likely weaken further because of demand-supply issues," he said.

The dollar eased in New York as Europe continued to battle over a Greek debt restructuring and new data showed the US central bank still largely unconcerned about inflationary pressures.

Minutes from the US Federal Reserve's April policy meeting showed very little concern over inflation from most Fed governors and also gave scant evidence for a quick move toward tightening. (AFP}

Osama fosters Arab revolt in posthumous message

WASHINGTON: Al Qaeda has released a message from slain leader Osama bin Laden praising the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia and urging Muslims to take advantage of a "rare historic opportunity" to rise up, US monitors said.

The 12-minute, 37-second audio message posted on jihadist forums on Wednesday by Al Qaeda's media arm As-Sahab addresses Muslims on the revolutions sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, SITE Intelligence said.

Speaking from beyond the grave in the posthumous message, Bin Laden recommends setting up a council to offer revolutionary advice and decide the best timing to spread revolt across the Muslim world.

"A delay may cause the opportunity to be lost, and carrying it out before the right time will increase the number of casualties," bin Laden says in the audio message, according to SITE's translation.

"I think that the winds of change will blow over the entire Muslim world, with permission from Allah."

A covert US Navy SEAL team killed bin Laden on May 2 at his Pakistan compound in Abbottabad before burying him at sea. (AFP)

US apologizes Pak over drone attacks

ISLAMABAD: The United States has formally apologized Pakistan over drone attacks, Geo News reported on Tuesday.

According to sources, the US apologized civil and military leadership of Pakistan over the drone strikes that killed nine people in North Waziristan on Monday.

The sources added that these strikes were scheduled before the visit of US Senator John Kerry.

The US has stated that it would work together with Pakistan on any future operations in the country.