Picture: (AFP/DDP/File/Roland Magunia)
British legend Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, performs during the Live Earth concert in Hamburg in 2007. A flight from London with Yusuf Islam on board was diverted and forced to land in Maine when US officials became aware that Islam was on board. The ACLU says the US government’s terrorist watch list has swollen into a catalogue of a million names in the after 9/11.

A commercial airline pilot and convert to Islam who says his name is on the U.S. government’s secret terrorist watch list has fought back, filing a federal lawsuit against the Homeland Security Department and various other federal agencies.

Erich Scherfen says that unless his name is removed from the list, he faces losing not only his job but the ability to make a living in his chosen profession.

Scherfen told reporters yesterday after his lawyers filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, that "his livelihood depends on being off this list."

He alleges that the government’s actions have violated his and his wife’s constitutional rights. The suit seeks a hearing and a decision before he is scheduled to lose his job on Sept. 1.

Read More »Us pilot says hes on terror watch list sues to save job

Picture: REUTERS/Mian Khursheed
Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf leaves the presidential house after his resignation in Islamabad.

The U.S. today offered to help Pakistanis displaced by an army operation against Islamic fighters in a northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials say more than 200,000 have fled the Bajur tribal region, the primary focus of the nearly two-week-old offensive, and the neighboring Mohmand tribal area. Many have landed in relief camps set up by the government and political parties.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor says "they stand ready to offer humanitarian assistance to the government of Pakistan, if requested, in regards to the situation in the tribal regions". He would not offer specifics about the assistance that would be provided.

Nearly 500 people have been killed in the fighting so far, according to Pakistani officials. The numbers and scope of the situation have been difficult to confirm because of the area’s remote and dangerous nature.

The U.S. offer indicated American officials were watching the situation with growing concern. But it also came as the U.S. seeks to strengthen its ties to the new ruling coalition, which this week managed to force longtime American ally Pervez Musharraf to quit as president.

The U.S. also has pushed Pakistan to root out insurgents from the tribal areas, and has frowned on its attempts to seek peace deals with fighters instead of resorting to force.

Bajur is considered a potential hiding place for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri. Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik says last week that Pakistani intelligence has reports that about 3,000 armed fighters are present in Bajur.

The fighters include Pakistanis, Afghan Taliban and Central Asians.

SAPA-AP

Read More »Us offers aid to pakistanis displaced by clashes