India, China in US firing line over Iran oil

The United States has not included India and China in a list of 11 nations that would be spared financial sanctions as they have significantly reduced purchases of Iranian crude oil.

The exempted countries are Japan and ten European nations - Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom, according to a State Department statement.

"The actions taken by these countries were not easy," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the US Congress Tuesday.

"They had to rethink their energy needs at a critical time for the world economy and quickly begin to find alternatives to Iranian oil, which many had been reliant on for their energy needs," she said.

"The United States is leading an unprecedented international coalition of partners that has brought to bear significant pressure on the Iranian regime to change its course," Clinton said.

Besides India, China, and South Korea, which do not figure on the list there are nine other major importers of Iranian that could face sanctions.

A State Department official who briefed reporters on the announcement would not list the countries, but said the US is in conversation with India, China, and South Korea on the issue.

"We look very much forward to hearing what kinds of messages those countries are able and willing to bring to us and to continue to pursue them in a serious and professional conversation," the official said.

Major oil importers could look at Japan as an example of how to wean off Iranian oil, he said. Japan has reduced its oil purchases from Iran by 15 percent to 22 percent in the last half of 2011, the official said.

Under the 2012 National Defence Authorization Act, President Barack Obama can impose financial sanctions on foreign banks that carry out financial transactions with Iran's central bank "for the purchase of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran."

However, under the law he can exempt nations from sanctions if he determines that a country with primary jurisdiction over the bank has "significantly reduced" its volume of crude oil purchases.

AL-Qaeda leader Bin Laden 'wanted to attack Obama directly'

AL-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had ordered his followers in Afghanistan and Pakistan to attack the aircraft of President Barack Obama in the lead up to his death.

The report, which cited documents seized at the Pakistan compound where bin Laden was killed by US forces, said the Al-Qaeda leader also sought to kill General David Petraeus, who then headed international forces in Afghanistan, the Washington Post reported.

Bin Laden wanted to kill the US president because "Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make (Vice President Joe) Biden take over the presidency," according to a document purported to come from the compound.

"Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the US into a crisis. As for Petraeus, he is the man of the hour, and killing him would alter the war's path in Afghanistan."

The scheme was described in one of the documents taken from bin Laden's compound by US forces on May 2, 2011, the night he was killed, and made available to Washington Post opinion writer David Ignatius.

"They have been declassified and will be available soon to the public in their original Arabic texts and translations," Ignatius wrote.

The documents said bin Laden hoped the attacks on Obama and Petraeus would be carried out Pakistani militant Ilyas Kashmiri, who is believed to have been killed in a US drone attack last June.

The report said US analysts see little possibility that the plots could have been carried out.

'Pak warned against attacking India'

The US has warned Pakistani leaders of dangerous consequences if there is another terror attack on India that originates from Pakistan, a former top adviser to President Barack Obama has said, asking Islamabad to give up the policy of supporting extremist elements.

Gen (retd) James Jones, who was the National Security Adviser to President Barack Obama from January 2009 to October 2010, said the message that they should give up the policy of supporting terrorist and extremist elements has been conveyed to Pakistani leaders several times by top US officials.

Jones stated this on the Charlie Rose show on the PBS news network in response to a question.

"I've said this in exactly those words, and I think my former colleagues at the NSC (National Security Council) and at the State Department have done the same thing -- is that you really don't understand, or we don't understand why you don't understand that you're playing Russian roulette here with your future because if there is another attack originating from Pakistan in India, you know, Prime Minister Singh isn't going to be able to (hold back)...," he said.

Russian roulette is a potentially lethal game of chance in which participants place a single round in a revolver, spin the cylinder, place the muzzle against their head and pull the trigger.

"Russian" refers to the supposed country of origin, and roulette to the element of risk-taking and the spinning of the revolver's cylinder being reminiscent of spinning a roulette wheel.

Jones praised Singh for maintaining calm and patience in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

"Essentially what is being asked is that Pakistan renounce terror as an instrument of its foreign policy.

"In other words, accepting the location of terrorist organisations, safe havens whether they're directed towards Afghanistan or India is anathema to peace and progress, especially when you have a visionary leader like Prime Minister Singh who has taken huge political risk in not responding to Mumbai," Jones said.

The former NSA said that there are world leaders who are willing to help Pakistan if it gives up its policy of supporting extremist elements.

"There is a network of leaders that were willing to do a lot of things that would have helped Pakistan in its serious economic problems... and revamping the society from ground up" and in return Pakistan is being asked to renounce terror as an instrument of its foreign policy, he said.