CHICAGO: NATO’s chief urged Islamabad to back efforts to stabilise Afghanistan as he prepared for talks Saturday with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, on the eve of a NATO summit.

Zardari was invited to the summit in Chicago amid expectations that Pakistan will lift a six-month blockade against NATO supply trucks that was put in place after US air strikes killed 26 Pakistani troops in November.

NATO has also pressed Islamabad to do more to prevent insurgents from taking advantage of the porous Afghan-Pakistani border region to take sanctuary inside Pakistan.

“We can’t solve the problems in Afghanistan without the positive engagement of Pakistan,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a policy forum in Chicago, which is hosting the summit on Sunday and Monday.

“We have to solve these problems,” he said, referring to the safe havens used by insurgents in Pakistan to launch attacks on NATO troops across the border.

When he meets with Zardari later, Rasmussen said he would “convey a couple of clear messages,” but he did not elaborate.

US President Barack Obama will host fellow leaders for two days of talks focused on plans to gradually hand over security control to Afghan forces and pave the way for the withdrawal of 130,000 foreign combat troops by late 2014.

NATO hopes Afghanistan’s security forces, which will grow to 352,000 later this year, can take the lead throughout the country next year, enabling foreign troops to gradually switch from combat to training mode.

But France’s new President Francois Hollande has shaken up the carefully crafted transition plan, vowing to bring his 3,500 combat troops home this year, a year earlier than planned.

“The withdrawal is not negotiable. The withdrawal of combat forces is France’s decision and this decision will be implemented,” Hollande told reporters after White House talks with Obama on Friday.

Hollande, however, said he would honor a treaty signed by his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy to provide training support for Afghan police and military forces.

Highlighting the challenges facing Afghan security forces, a suicide bomber struck at a lunch gathering of police and local civilians in the country’s southeast on Saturday killing at least 13 people, three of them policemen.

Despite the early French withdrawal, NATO wants to show a united front in the last two years of combat in an increasingly unpopular war in Europe and America.

The alliance will also use the summit to reassure Afghan President Hamid Karzai that NATO will fund his security forces and continue training beyond 2014.

“Let me be clear,” Rasmussen said. “NATO will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Afghanistan.”

NEW DELHI: Australian cricketer Luke Pomersbach was granted bail Saturday by a New Delhi court following accusations he molested a woman and beat up her fiance, his lawyer told AFP.

The 27-year-old batsman, who has one cap for Australia, is signed up in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Royal Challengers Bangalore team, which took on the Delhi Daredevils on Thursday night.

He faces up to two years in jail if found guilty of molestation and assault after the incident during an after-game party at the swanky ITC Maurya Hotel in the Indian capital.

The cricketer has denied the charges against him.

His lawyer, Ajay Bhargava told AFP: “He has received bail, on condition that he surrenders his passport and pays a surety of Rs30,000 ($550) on each charge.”

He added that the court ruled that “a trespassing charge cannot be maintained” against Pomersbach after CCTV footage filmed outside the alleged victim’s room proved inconclusive on whether the cricketer had forcibly entered her suite.

A visibly relieved Pomersbach told reporters outside the court: “I am happy that I have been granted bail and looking forward to getting to the bottom of it.”

His arrest was headline news in Indian and Australian newspapers on Saturday with reports detailing the sensational allegations in the case and the chequered history of the money-spinning IPL.

The powerfully built cricketer, wearing a heavy bandage on his right arm, fainted during an earlier court appearance on Friday.

Pomersbach has battled depression and drug problems and narrowly avoided a jail sentence in Australia after admitting assaulting a police officer who was trying to arrest him for drunk driving.

He arrived in India for the IPL saying he was now “on top of things”, adding he was determined to make the most of the Indian league in order to get his career back on track.

The alleged woman victim, a 27-year-old from the US, told Indian media Pomersbach had “tagged along” with her and her Mumbai-based fiance and said the cricketer grabbed her while they drank together in a hotel room.

When her fiance asked Pomersbach to leave her alone, Pomersbach “turned around and started hitting him”, she alleged.

The man was in a stable condition in hospital. He has yet to make a statement to police.

The charges against Pomersbach are the most recent in a string of scandals that have rocked the glitzy, headline-grabbing IPL tournament.

Earlier this week, five Indian players signed to IPL teams were suspended after an undercover TV report alleged they were prepared to take money for spot-fixing, an illegal practice in which parts of the game are fixed.

On Wednesday night, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who is co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise, was involved in an ugly late-night row with officials at Mumbai’s main Wankhede cricket stadium.

As a result, he was banned by the Mumbai Cricket Association for five years from entering the stadium.

The annual IPL tournament also faces allegations of massive corporate corruption, money-laundering and tax evasion, as well as secret deals to hide teams’ real owners and even links to India’s criminal underworld.

KHOST: A suicide attack on a police checkpost in southeastern Afghanistan on Saturday killed at least nine people, three of them policemen, an official said.

The attacker shot a security guard before making his way inside the check post in the militant-hit Alisher district of Khost province, district governor Amir Badsha Dawran told AFP.

“The suicide blast killed three policemen and six civilians who were inside the check post at the time,” Dawran said, adding that the locals were regularly holding “friendly” meetings with the local security forces.

At least four policemen were also wounded in the attack, which was claimed by Taliban insurgents. They said all the casualties were Afghan security forces.

Khost is a volatile province which borders the tribal area of Pakistan, known as a Taliban stronghold and a base for the Haqqani network.

The Taliban and other militants frequently target Afghan security forces as part of their campaign to bring down the western-backed Kabul government.

Civilians however bear the brunt of the decade-long war.

According to the United Nations, civilian deaths from the Afghan conflict reached a record-high last year, when 3,021 civilians died in the violence, with the Taliban blamed for the bulk of the casualties.

There are currently around 130,000 international troops in Afghanistan, two-third of them from the United States.

But the Afghan police and army are to take on more responsibility for security as foreign combat troops withdraw in a process due to be completed by the end of 2014.

BEIRUT: At least 19 people were killed in violence across Syria on Saturday, monitors said, including nine who died in what state television said was as a suicide bombing in Deir Ezzor.

The powerful blast in the largest city of eastern Syria killed nine people and wounded 100, the television said.

It blamed a “suicide terrorist bomber” for the attack, while the main opposition coalition, the Syrian National Council, said President Bashar al-Assad’s regime was responsible as in past such bombings.

In northern Syria, “unidentified gunmen” killed a woman and her two children in the Al-Hamdaniya district of Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It said gunmen in the Deir Ezzor region assassinated the brother of an official in Assad’s ruling Baath party.

Regime forces in the restive town of Khan Shaykhoun in the northwestern province of Idlib shot dead a civilian, said the Britain-based watchdog.

Also in Idlib, which borders Turkey, two defectors were killed in Jisr al-Shughur, according to the Observatory.

Three civilians were killed in the central province of Homs, one in the outskirts of Qusayr and two others in the city of Homs itself, one of them by a stray bullet and the other by a sniper, the watchdog said.

What started out as a popular uprising has over time developed into an increasingly militarised revolt after Assad’s regime used force to crack down on peaceful protesters across the country.

According to the Observatory, more than 12,000 people have been killed in Syria since the revolt broke out in March 2011, most of them civilians.

NEW DEHLI: India has outlined plans to curb government foreign trips as part of an austerity drive and says it is “vigorously” committed to curtailing ballooning spending.

The statement late Friday came as India’s currency slumped to a new record low against the dollar with investor risk-aversion amplifying pressure on the rupee, already hit by worries about a slowing domestic economy.

“The government is committed to carry on the process of fiscal consolidation vigorously,” junior finance minister Namo Narain Meena told parliament in a written statement.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said earlier in the week he would introduce “austerity measures” to “convey a signal we are responding to the situation.”

Along with the travel restrictions, the government also aims to ban purchases of new cars, except by the military, clamp down on holding conferences at five-star hotels and impose “strict discipline” on hiring consultants.

Other measures are expected to be announced later, government officials said.

The finance minister has ascribed many of India’s economic problems to the crisis in the eurozone which has hit exports and prompted foreign investors to pile out of India into the perceived safe haven of US assets.

But the government has also come under attack for its management of the economy with business confidence hit by the sluggish economy, controversial tax rulings, economic reform paralysis and worries over rising welfare subsidies.

India’s growth fell to 6.9% in 2011-2012 from 8.4% the previous year with the unruly coalition government unable to agree on steps to further open up the economy to spur expansion.

Even as the government announced the austerity plans, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh invited journalists to travel with government officials to the United States to take delivery of state-run Air India’s new long-range Boeing jets.

The government’s emailed invitation said “travel, accommodation, etc., will be taken care of by us,” drawing mocking newspaper headlines.

“Austerity be damned: Bleeding Air India flies journalists to lavish US trip,” said the Daily Bhaskar.

Money-losing Air India, known as the “Maharaja of the Skies” for its turbaned cartoon mascot, is in the grips of a crippling pilots’ strike and is an estimated $10 billion in debt.

LONDON: Not content with his stunning triumph at last weekend’s fire-shrouded Spanish race, Venezuelan hero Pastor Maldonado has declared his intention of staying ahead of the pack in Formula One by winning next Sunday’s showpiece Monaco Grand Prix. The 27-year-old Latin American can see no reason why he cannot do the same again. His confidence is high, after a masterful triumph built on a mature drive and good strategy and he also said this week that Formula One is changing fast and that the driver pays a bigger role than in recent years. “It has become like a GP2 championship,” said Maldonado. “The drivers can make the difference and the teams can still work on the strategy and the car. It’s a bit boring when you see one car winning. The season is more competitive.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2012.

LONDON: Liverpool’s search for a new manager suffered a setback when Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers rejected the chance to talk to the Anfield club. Rodgers is regarded as one of the best young managers in the Premier League and was high on Liverpool’s list of potential candidates to replace Kenny Dalglish. Fenway Sports Group, the Merseyside club’s owners, have had an approach to speak to Wigan manager Roberto Martinez accepted and were also keen to interview Rodgers, but it was reported that the 39-year-old Northern Irishman has turned down the opportunity to speak to the Reds. The Guardian reported that Rodgers believes Liverpool should already know enough about his qualities to offer him the job if they feel he is the right man, rather than involve him in a drawn-out interview process that may feature several managers.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2012.

SEOUL: Manchester United’s South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung has expressed his desire to stay on at the English Premier League giants despite an uncertain future at Old Trafford. “It’s true that I said I want to retire at United,” said Park. ”But what I want does not always translate to reality. It becomes more feasible when the whole situation clicks.” Park finished the season with United, Premier League runners-up to rivals Manchester City, without a medal for the first time since he joined in 2005. Park, entering the final year of his contract, admitted he had a disappointing season.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2012.

The 30-year-old, whose 2011 Roland Garros title was a first Grand Slam singles crown for China, defeated Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) to book a showdown with Serena Williams. The American, the 2002 Rome winner, needed just 27 minutes on court when Italian Flavia Pennetta had to quit their quarter-final with a right wrist injury.

Li was leading Cibulkova comfortably 6-1, 5-2 when her game became crippled by caution with the Chinese star only managing to snatch the win in a tense tiebreaker.

“I’m not worried about the forehands or the backhands, it’s finishing the matches that is my problem,” said Li, the world number nine, who has not won a title since her Paris triumph almost a year ago. “There is not one player out there who gives up in a match, everyone is playing at such a high level. That’s my problem – I need to win easier. It’s a big problem for me to close out the matches.”

Li said that despite the latest case of nerves, she was pleased with her victory and her week so far in the Italian capital.

“I’ve had three good wins but now I face Serena. She’s a top player and a real fighter, it will be a big match. I’m happy with how I’m playing now, finally we got onto a true clay court (after blue courts in Madrid last week. I’m able to slide here. I feel ready for Roland Garros.”

Nadal downs Berdych to reach last-four

Second-seed Rafael Nadal got the better of Tomas Berdych, grinding out a 6-4, 7-5 win to seal his place in the semi-finals of the event which he has won five times.

The king of clay will face off in the final-four against compatriot and sixth-seed David Ferrer, who beat French 15th-seed Richard Gasquet 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

Nadal and Ferrer went toe-to-toe less than three weeks ago, with Nadal winning the final to take his seventh trophy on home clay in Barcelona. Nadal showed he has regained his blistering form after a dissatisfying third-round loss a week ago on blue clay in Madrid, beating Madrid finalist Berdych for the 11th time in succession in a struggle lasting just over two hours.

He produced 34 winners and just ten unforced errors in a superlative display, while Berdych went for broke throughout, posting 28 winners and 24 unforced errors and losing serve three times.

The world number three has now won all but two of his 36 matches at the Foro Italico and has emerged victorious in all three clay meetings with a player he also beat in the 2010 Wimbledon final.

Meanwhile, Ferrer needed an hour and three-quarters before putting out Gasquet, who played the Estoril final on clay earlier this month. The gutsy Spaniard, who is still seeking his first title this season, is through to the quarter-finals in Rome for the first time.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2012.

MUNICH: Bayern Munich host Chelsea in today’s Champions League final with both looking to erase painful memories of recent defeats at the last hurdle in the event.

The Blues arrived in the city eager to end their long wait to be crowned kings of Europe at Munich’s sold-out Allianz Arena, four years after their misery in Moscow.

The last time Chelsea reached the Champions League final in 2008, they lost on penalties to Manchester United with striker Didier Drogba dismissed in extra time for a slap on United defender Nemanja Vidic.

Despite an erratic season which saw Chelsea finish sixth in the Premier League, they lifted the FA Cup and beat Barcelona on the way to the Champions League final.

After Andre Villa-Boas was sacked in March, new boss Roberto Di Matteo breathed new life into the team and Drogba says the Blues have earned the right to be here.

“After Moscow, most of us thought we were going to get into the final the next year,” said Drogba. “But you can see it’s very difficult to reach a final. It shows how much we deserve to be there this time because it’s been a few years. We did a great job to get past Barcelona but we have to do one more. Now it’s one more game to win.”

Both teams upset the odds to take their place in the final with Chelsea stunning holders Barcelona while Bayern won a penalty-shoot-out in Spain to beat Real Madrid.

Bayern will be without suspended defensive trio Holger Badstuber, David Alaba and Luiz Gustavo who all picked up yellow cards against Madrid. Chelsea will be missing captain John Terry, who was sent off against Barcelona, while midfielders Raul Meireles, Ramires and defender Branislav Ivanovic are also suspended.

Time to banish the bad memory: Ribery

Likewise, Bayern winger Franck Ribery knows the pain of missing out: in the 2010 campaign, his red card in the semi-final against Lyon saw him suspended for the final as the Bavarians lost 2-0 in Madrid to Inter Milan.

“It wasn’t a good situation for me two years ago and I felt bad about it,” said the Frenchman.

“I’ve often thought back to 2010. I can make up for the missed final because I have a second chance. The final in Munich means I can finally banish the memory of Madrid.”

However, Bayern are licking their wounds after being hammered 5-2 by league champions Dortmund in last weekend’s German Cup final and finished second in the Bundesliga.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2012.