U.S., Pakistani commanders meet

In a meeting cloaked in secrecy, an unusually high-level roster of U.S. military officials huddled with senior Pakistani military officers this week aboard an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean to discuss the increasing violence along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The U.S. commanders – including Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen and Army Gen. David Petraeus – met with Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Tuesday in the first meeting of senior U.S. and Pakistani military leaders since former Gen. Pervez Musharraf stepped down as Pakistan’s president last week.

The meeting occurred amid concerns about the increasingly deadly Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan and lingering questions about the effort of Pakistan’s military and new government to help contain it.

The timing of the meeting as well as the high rank of the U.S. commanders involved underscores the Pentagon’s desire to strengthen their ties to Pakistan’s military leaders during a tumultuous period on Pakistan’s political scene.

Abuja, Nigeria

Iranians to share nuclear technology

An Iranian trade delegation announced an agreement Thursday for Iran to share peaceful nuclear technology with Nigeria, to help Africa’s biggest oil producer bolster its woeful electricity-generation capacity.

Officials of both countries stressed that the agreement involves only the peaceful uses of atomic energy.

Iran is under sanctions for defying U.N. Security Council demands to halt uranium enrichment until it answers Western suspicions its nuclear program is trying to develop atomic weapons. Iran insists its program is intended only to use nuclear reactors to generate electricity.

Mohammad Ali Zeyghami, a commerce official leading the Iranian delegation, said Iran has the right to share its nuclear know-how with Nigeria.

“Nobody can limit the use of knowledge anywhere in the world,” Zeyghami said.