Karzai doubts credibility of US leaked cables

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday accused the Taliban and the U.S. of working in concert to convince Afghans that violence will worsen if most foreign troops leave – an allegation the top American commander in Afghanistan rejected as “categorically false.”

Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani was once jailed for refusing to switch allegiance. Some say that's what made him prime minister, and now, with a recent constitutional change, a man more powerful than the president. A stint behind bars doesn't always have to be an ignominious coda to a politician's career.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Akbar Salehi told Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani that the Iranian part of the Iran-Pakistan natural gas pipeline is scheduled for completion in 2012. A second project scheduled for completion next year is Pakistan’s import of 1,000 megawatts of electricity per day from Iran. Foreign Minister Salehi added that Iran could begin immediate electricity exports if it could be connected with Pakistan’s electrical grid.

Joshua Partlow and Karen DeYoung report that General David Petraeus is none too happy with Afghan President Hamid Karzai:

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said one of his defence ministers had resigned Sunday in a controversy over remarks the minister had made about the country's military.In comments reported by Pakistani media, Defence Production Minister Abdul Qayum Jatoi had implied Saturday that the army was responsible for the deaths of civilians and politicians including former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.Gilani said had summoned Jatoi to a meeting on Saturday evening to explain the remarks.

Whistleblower website WikiLeaks has unleashed a flood of US cables detailing shocking diplomatic episodes, from a nuclear standoff with Pakistan to Arab leaders urging a strike on Iran.The leaked memos describe a Chinese government bid to hack into Google; plans to reunite the Korean peninsula after the North's eventual collapse; Saudi Arabia's king's call to the US to bomb Iran to halt its nuclear drive

Whistleblower website WikiLeaks unleashed a flood of US cables detailing shocking diplomatic episodes, from a nuclear standoff with Pakistan to Arab leaders urging a strike on Iran.The leaked memos describe a Chinese government bid to hack into Google, plans to reunite the Korean peninsula after the North's eventual collapse, and quote Saudi Arabia's king as saying the United States should bomb Iran to halt its nuclear drive, telling it to "cut off the head of the snake."