SC takes suo motu notice of Karachi carnage

By Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD, Oct 31: The Supreme Court on Wednesday took suo motu notice of the Oct 18 Karachi carnage and decided to hear the matter on Thursday.

“The suo motu action has been taken to ensure that perpetrators of such heinous crimes do not go unpunished and they are brought to book,” the Supreme Court said, adding this would result in restoring the confidence of the nation in the system of governance.

Headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, the bench which will take up the matter will comprise Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and Justice Nasirul Mulk.

Over 140 people had been killed in the attack on a procession led by PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto on her return to the country. More than 400 people were injured.

On Oct 24, Senator Farooq Naek, the legal advisor of Ms Bhutto, had sent a letter to the chief justice requesting him to take suo motu notice of a letter sent to him reportedly by some unknown Al Qaeda operatives threatening to assassinate Ms Bhutto.

He had provided details of the attack on the rally.

The Supreme Court notice said that although the country was in the grip of suicide bombing and other terrorist acts, the attack on the PPP rally was the most chilling and dreadful incident of its kind, targeting the entire leadership of a major political party and resulting in an unprecedented number of casualties.

It said the incident had not only shaken the confidence of the entire nation, but it had also negatively affected the business environment in the country and resulted in a poor projection of Pakistan in the world community.

It said the incident had its implications for future political activities in the country, adding that since the general elections were round the corner, such incidents could cause scare and disinterest among the people and discourage them from actively participating in the political system and freely exercising their right to vote.

The notice said more than a week had passed since the attack, but there was no clue to who were involved in the attack and what their motives were.

The PPP, it said, had shown reservations over the way the investigation was being carried out and had expressed doubts over the capacity of the administration to do so.

Reverberations of the incident were being heard in international quarters as well. Major European leaders, including the German chancellor and the British prime minister, and the governments of the Unites States and India, have expressed their sorrow and grief over the incident.

The United Nations Security Council in a resolution had condemned the atrocity and directed the member states to extend all possible assistance to help investigate the crime, the court said.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/01/nat1.htm

Grand jirga offers help to end conflict in Swat

UPPER DIR, Oct 31: A grand peace jirga of Upper Dir district offered on Wednesday its services to the government for holding talks with militant cleric Maulana Fazlullah to peacefully end the Swat conflict.

It also expressed resolve to maintain law and order in the district after concerns were expressed at various levels about chances of militants sneaking into the district and disturbing the peaceful atmosphere.

The jirga held a session at the district council hall of Dir on Wednesday and discussed the Swat situation and its implications for Upper Dir.

The 130-member jirga, comprising leaders of political parties, ulema, Maliks, elders and people from various walks of life, voiced concern over the conflict in Swat and stressed the need for talks to defuse the situation.

“If the government feels it needs the help of local people to defuse tension and to restore peace, we are ready to play a role,” the jirga said.

Addressing the jirga, district nazim Sahibzada Tariqullah, PPP provincial general secretary Najmuddin Khan, former provincial health minister Inayatullah, former MNA and JI district Amir Maulana Asadullah, JUI-F leader Maulana Gul Ahmad and others expressed sorrow over the deaths of Muslims on both sides, and urged the government to halt its operation.

They also pledged to maintain peace in the Upper Dir and not to allow militants to enter the district and destroy peace.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/01/top14.htm

Boy started California fire, say police

LOS ANGELES, Oct 31: A young boy playing with matches has confessed to starting the deadly fires that recently devastated southern California, according to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

The Buckweed fire in northern Los Angeles County, which began in the early afternoon of Sunday, October 21, was first blamed on downed power lines, but the investigation later turned into one of suspected arson.

By Monday “detectives identified a male juvenile as the suspect,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement late on Tuesday.

“After talking with the suspect, he admitted to playing with matches and accidentally starting the fire. The boy was released to his parents.”

The case was presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office “for further action,” the statement read.

An official with the Sheriff’s Department described the boy as a “pre-teen.”

The devastating wildfires were among the worst in Californian history, leaving seven people dead, destroying 2,000 homes and displacing 640,000 people as they tore through tinder-dry parks and forests.

The Buckweed fire forced more than 15,000 people from their homes. Some 1,200 firefighters battled the blaze, which was contained on October 24, Sheriff’s Department said. Three people were injured in the blaze.

At the height of the crisis 23 fires were raging. But a lull in winds which fuelled the flames early last week combined with cooling temperatures allowed firefighters to gain the upper hand.

The two remaining blazes, both in the San Diego area, are largely contained, according to the Los Angeles Times.—AFP

NRO not to cover foreign cases: Azim

ISLAMABAD, Oct 31: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Tariq Azim said on Wednesday that the National Reconciliation Ordinance would not apply to cases pending against Benazir Bhutto in foreign courts and if she was charged the government would not defend her.

The government would provide necessary evidence and witnesses if sought by any foreign court, he told a news conference at the PML House here.

He referred to legal proceedings in Switzerland and Spain and said Swiss investigating magistrate Vincent Fournier had completed investigation into money-laundering charges against Ms Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari.

The magistrate, while giving the opinion that the case against the accused was now ready for trial, had sent a report to the Swiss attorney general to take a decision, Mr Tariq said.

He said that Ms Bhutto had challenged the status of the Pakistan government as an affected party on Aug 17, 2006, but the Swiss investigating magistrate had rejected the request and reconfirmed that the government was an affected party.

He said the Swiss magistrate had observed that Asif Ali Zardari never showed up in Geneva and that he had been adopting delaying tactics which were unacceptable.

The minister said that the magistrate had turned down a request made by Ms Bhutto and Mr Zardari to call former minister of state for finance Shahabuddin, former finance secretary Talat, former interior minister Naseerullah Babar and PPP leaders Raza Rabbani, Rana Rahim and Abu Bakar to give evidence as witnesses in the case.

He said Ms Bhutto had stated that lawyers engaged by her were not being paid and they were ‘voluntarily’ pursuing her cases. However, the minister said, the bills of all lawyers were being paid from Varley Finance Limited, a Luxembourg-based company.

Mr Azim said that in the money- laundering case, Ms Bhutto could face a sentence of 18 months. He alleged that Ms Bhutto had earned $72 million through kickbacks in the SGS and Cotecna cases. He said that Pakistan’s support on mutual assistance basis would continue.

Mr Azim said the case in Spain relating to UN oil for food programme and involving two companies owned by the Bhutto family, had been investigated by the Spanish government which suspected the companies of being involved in the money-laundering business.

The minister said the companies, Petrolin FZC and Tempo Global Gain FZC, were based in Sharjah and they had bank accounts in Spain.

He said large amounts of money were exchanged between the two companies and then transferred to Dubai.

The minister said that these cases had not been launched by the Pakistan government, but initiated by the Spanish government which later informed the government about it.

He said that besides Abdur Rehman Feroz Malik (Rehman Malik) and Sayed Ali Hassan Jaffery, the family of Ms Bhutto, including her children Bilawal, Asifa and Bakhtawar, were shareholders in the two companies.Mr Azim said that the UN-sponsored investigation had revealed that the accused had paid two million dollars to Saddam Hussain to get a contract under the oil for food programme.—APP

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/01/top9.htm

Ceasefire in Swat collapses

SWAT, Oct 31: Security forces used helicopter gunships to attack militants’ positions as a tenuous ceasefire in effect in troubled Swat areas since Monday collapsed on Wednesday.

There were no independent reports about casualties but a spokesman for the militants told Dawn that their two fighters had been killed and 11 others injured.

(AFP quoted officials as saying that 20 militants were killed when security forces targeted their positions. Up to 18 militants were killed when they came under fire from the gunships, NWFP Home Secretary Badshah Gul Wazir told the news agency.

In a separate attack, two other militants were killed and six wounded when the security forces used helicopters and artillery units to shell their hideouts, Mr Wazir said.)

The ceasefire collapsed when militants torched a police post in Gwalerai and escaped with a van. They also attacked a dispensary of women health workers and took away two vehicles.

A police station in Kabbal came under rocket attack on Tuesday night. Five rockets were fired on the camp of a paramilitary force and a bomb went off outside the camp of the Frontier Reserve Police in Saidu Sharif, damaging its outer wall.

A senior government official in Peshawar said the security forces had to respond with force after overnight incidents.

“The militants had set up checkposts in Sambat, Baryam and Baidara, checking vehicles and capturing government officials going home. They blindfolded them and whisked them away,” Home Secretary Badshah Gul Wazir told Dawn.

“This is not on. There can be no talks with these people. These elements are not amenable to talks. The government needs to first subdue them and then we can sit across the table and discuss what their problems are,” he said. “The government has to establish its writ.”

The security forces responded with heavy artillery fire and gunship helicopters pounded militants’ positions on hill in Khwazakhela and Matta.

Mr Wazir said checkposts of the militants at three points had also been targeted, forcing them to flee the area. However, local people said the checkposts were intact and the militants continued to patrol the area.

The resumption of hostilities prompted more people to flee their homes and move to safe places.

The situation is precarious in Matta where a police station is virtually under siege. A policeman holed up in the station told Dawn by phone that they could not even leave the place to get food and they were waiting for the government and security forces to come to their rescue.

The militants are also occupying a hospital in Matta and have taken up positions near a roundabout in the sub-district of Swat.

Local people said the militants and the security forces were in an eyeball-to-eyeball position across the Saidu Sharif airport, closed by the Civil Aviation Authority two years ago for not being profitable.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/01/top2.htm

Hearing in Mufti Ateeq’s killing case on Nov 5

KARACHI, Oct 30: The Anti-terrorism Court-V will resume hearing on Nov 5 of the case pertaining to the assassination of Mufti Ateeq-ur-Rehman along with his brother, Irshad, in the limits of the Preedy police station on June 23, 2005.

Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-V, holding the trial inside the Central Prison Karachi, put off the trial on Monday after defence counsel Mushtaq Ahmed sought an adjournment due to his preoccupation with some other case.

Police have submitted the charge-sheet against the accused, Hammad Raza Naqvi, who was identified by some witnesses in an identification parade held in the presence of a judicial magistrate. Another person, Syed Mohammad Askari, has been nominated as the absconding co-accused.

The ATC had indicted the accused on Sept 12 and recorded depositions of two prosecution witnesses on Sept 25.

Jamal Ateeq son of Mufti Ateeq-ur-Rehman informed the court about his father’s post-mortem report and some other details of the case. The other witness, constable Mohammad Akhtar, deposed that he was on patrol duty when the incident had taken place. He said he was called by his colleague, Raja Akhtar, to accompany him in the inspection of the scene of the incident.

Special Public Prosecutor Mohammad Mazhar Qayyum told the court that magistrate Sara Junejo, currently posted at Larkana, was scheduled to appear before the court but could not make it as she was on leave.

The court recorded the statement of prosecution witnesses, Sultan, a relative of the slain religious scholar, and the Medico-legal Officer, Dr Jagdeesh, who had performed the postmortem examination of Mufti Ateeq’s body.

The MLO said that he was on duty when the victims were brought to hospital. He said Irshad was shifted to the intensive care unit of the hospital. A son of the late Mufti, Amaar, 10, was also injured and brought to the hospital.

He confirmed that Mufti Ateeq and Irshad had died from the bullet wounds they had sustained.

On Sept 15, the court had recorded the deposition of three police officials – ASIs Raja Masood Ahmed, Nadeem Haider and Shabbir Ahmed – against Hammad Raza Naqvi and the absconding co-accused Syed Mohammad Askari.

Deportation plane was ordered by PM, court told

By Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that he had been asked by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz by telephone to arrange a special aircraft which was used to take former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to Jeddah on Sept 10.

The claim about the prime minister’s verbal orders was endorsed by chief of protocol for foreign affairs Nazir Ahmed and PIA chairman Zafar A. Khan, and also by the principle secretary to the premier. The instructions were followed by a Sept 9 letter to the chief of protocol to keep the VVIP aircraft ready with double cabin crew, though it carried no information about the destination of the plane.

Right from Sept 6, arrangements were being made to violate the decision of the Supreme Court in the Nawaz Sharif case by none other than the prime minister himself, said Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, who is heading a seven-member SC bench hearing a contempt of court petition involving the deportation of Mr Sharif.

In his statement, which was appreciated by the chief justice, the foreign secretary said he had been directed by the prime minister by phone on Sept 6 to arrange with the help of PIA a VVIP aircraft.

As the proceedings were going on inside the courtroom, a large number of PML-N leaders, workers and supporters gathered outside the Supreme Court.

At the outset, the court ordered Wasim Sajjad, the counsel for the prime minister, to read out the statement of the secretary to the foreign office in which he had divulged the identity of the official ordering the aircraft. The statement had been filed on an earlier order of the court to the foreign secretary to tell who had reserved the aircraft which was used to deport Nawaz Sharif to Jeddah from Islamabad.

The court adjourned the proceedings till Nov 8 with an observation that keeping in view the complex nature of allegations involving high-ups, it considered it appropriate to adjourn the matter with instructions that the judgment passed in the Nawaz Sharif case holding that any citizen of Pakistan could not be restrained from entering the country still held the field and, therefore, should be implemented in letter and spirit.

Earlier, Zafar A. Khan told the court that PIA regularly received instructions through the foreign affairs ministry for arranging VVIP flights for presidential visits. He said PIA had not yet received the payment although it had billed the ministry for the Sept 10 flight.

The bench made it clear that it would not be proceeding against any sub-inspector or a lower ranking police officer and ordered Attorney-General Malik Mohammad Qayyum to consult the government who should be summoned for committing contempt of court. The bench then retired for 10 to 15 minutes and when it reassembled, the attorney-general requested for a short adjournment, saying he wanted to get instructions from the highest level due to the seriousness of the matter. He also gave an assurance that remedial measures would be taken in the meanwhile by the government.

“Then we will be proceeding against the PM for violating court orders and the foreign affairs secretary will be coming in the witness box to depose his statement,” the chief justice said, adding that the prime minister could also make his statement before the bench when he would be proceeded against.

The attorney-general defended the premier and said he was not alone and a few other persons might also be called by the court.

Advocate Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, the counsel for Nawaz Sharif, was bitter over the violation of the court order and requested the court to summon the person who had violated the decision.

He said the contempt of court proceedings would go on but, in the meantime, the government should make a statement that Mr Sharif could return to Pakistan any time.

What business the prime minister had to ask the foreign secretary to arrange for the flight?, the counsel asked.

The bench directed senior counsel S. M. Zafar, representing the Punjab government, that the highest functionaries of the provincial government should refrain from issuing statements against Mr Sharif’s plans to return home because the matter was sub judice. If the highest functionaries would not refrain from issuing such statements, there would be no purpose of the court to function, it said.

Wasim Sajjad requested the bench to allow the prime minister to submit his detailed reply to explain his position in the light of statements made in the court.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/31/top2.htm

Election Commission to post electoral rolls on internet

ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: The Election Commission will place the computerised electoral rolls 2007 on its website, according to Chief Election Commissioner Justice Qazi Muhammad Farooq.

According to the Election Commission, it is also preparing CDs/DVDs of the province-wise electoral rolls for political parties and contesting candidates concerned.

In accordance with the Supreme Court directives, the leftover voters have been included in the new electoral rolls, enabling them to cast their votes in the elections.

In all, 80.489 million voters have been placed on the computerised electoral rolls.

The number of male voters is more than 45 million while women voters are over 35 million.

According to the latest electoral rolls, the number of voters in Islamabad is 481,380, of them 260,882 males and 220,498 female voters.

The number of voters in Punjab is 44.37 million with more than 24.4 million males and over 19.9 million females.

The number of voters in Sindh is about 19.3 million, including 10.8 million male and 8.5 million female voters.

In Balochistan, there are 4.36 million voters with 2.35 million males and slightly more than two million females. The number of voters in NWFP is 10.5 million, including more than 6.2 million males and 4.2 million female voters.

In Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the total number of registered voters is over 1.2 million with male voters outnumbering female voters by almost four times.

The CEC has asked everyone having attained the age of 18 to get themselves registered as voter till the announcement of the election schedule.

Various political parties and civil society organisations had been urging the Election Commission to put the electoral rolls on its web-site to ensure transparency.

The Election Commission has now invited expressions of interest from parties to put the rolls on the web.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/31/top13.htm

Abu Dhabi to set up $5bn refinery

ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: Abu Dhabi will set up an oil refinery in Gwadar at a cost of $5 billion, according to Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Ihsanullah Khan.

He told the state-run Pakistan Television on Tuesday that the project would be known as Khalifa Coastal Refinery and would be set up at the Khalifa Point in Gwadar.

He said that the refinery was promised by the Abu Dhabi government to President General Pervez Musharraf and the project had been finalised.He said the refinery’s production capacity would be 200,000 barrels a week.—APP

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/31/top13.htm

Pakistan PM 'ignored top court'

Shaukat Aziz could be immune from contempt proceedings Pakistan's top judge has accused Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz of violating a Supreme Court judgement. Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry criticised Mr Aziz while hearing a contempt case against him and several senior government officials. He said Mr Aziz had arranged for the immediate deportation of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif upon his return to the country in September. Earlier the court said Mr Sharif had an inalienable right to return from exile. Mr Chaudhry has in recent years passed several judgements against the government. President Pervez Musharraf tried to sack him last March, provoking a storm of protests from Pakistan's legal community and opposition parties. Nawaz Sharif was deposed by Gen Musharraf in a 1999 coup and went into exile the following year. He flew into Islamabad on 10 September, after the Supreme Court ruled in August that he was entitled to return. But hours after landing he was flown back to exile in Saudi Arabia. 'Prepare plane' "By 6 September arrangements were being made to violate the order of this court... by the prime minister," Chief Justice Chaudhry said on Tuesday. Mr Sharif was deported hours after landing in Islamabad He was speaking after hearing evidence from the senior official of the Foreign Ministry and the chairman of Pakistan International Airlines. They said they had been ordered to have a plane ready on 10 September to fly an important person from Islamabad to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. It is not clear if Prime Minister Aziz would be immune from prosecution for contempt. The offence can carry up to six months imprisonment, the Associated Press news agency reports. Judge Chaudhry said that his August ruling on Mr Sharif's "inalienable right" to return to Pakistan "is very much intact... and is required to be implemented in letter and spirit". The case has been adjourned until 8 November. Mr Sharif says he will return again to Pakistan before parliamentary elections expected to take place in January. Mr Sharif's rival, Benazir Bhutto, returned to Pakistan after years of self-imposed exile on 18 October. Several hours later she survived an assassination attempt that left more than 130 people dead.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7069780.stm

KARACHI: Fire destroys 14 studios of Radio Pakistan

By Imran Ayub

KARACHI, Oct 28: A huge fire in the century-old Radio Pakistan building on M. A. Jinnah Road gutted all the 14 studios and destroyed equipment and archival material worth millions of rupees, including instruments used since the first day of its broadcast operations.

The fire, which broke out at 11.30am in Studio Eight of the building’s first floor, rapidly spread through the mostly wooden structure and caused panic among the children taking part in a flagship programme of the Karachi station ‘Bachon Ki Dunya’. They were evacuated before the fire department’s operation began.

Officials said it took more than three hours to control the spreading fire and the ancient structure made the job a little harder as the firefighters took extra care to prevent further losses during the operation.

The fire forced suspension of the radio broadcast for a couple of hours, which was later resumed through the standby transmitters.

“Our 15 fire tenders took part in the firefighting operation. The tenders were assisted by almost a dozen water takers and fire tenders of the KPT (Karachi Port Trust) and the DHA (Defence Housing Authority),” said Chief Fire Officer Ehtishamuddin, who led the operation.

He said the cause of the fire had not been determined but suspected that it might be the result of an electric short-circuit or a serious human error. Though, he said, the fire caused serious losses to the equipment, it could not damage the building in a big way because of its better architecture and well-planned construction.

“By the end of our operation the first floor of the building was almost gutted but we succeeded in keeping the fire confined to the first floor till finish,” he added.

Hundreds of people had gathered outside the historical building, which was enveloped in huge columns of black smoke. Later, the area police took the charge and drove the spectators, gathered at the gate of the building, to the main M. A. Jinnah Road to ensure smooth movement of the fire tenders.

The historical building has housed the Radio Pakistan Karachi Station since 1949, when it was shifted here from the Intelligence School on Queens Road (now M.T. Khan Road) after a year of its broadcast operations.

In 1949, the building was owned by a local government body and was later acquired by the Pakistan Broadcast Corporation.

Sources in Radio Pakistan said the fire damaged almost all the 14 studios on the first floor of the two-storey building and burnt dozens of archival pieces, including musical and broadcast equipment preserved as relics of the past.

“The destroyed items included two big pianos, which are now considered as antiques, violins and sitars,” said a source associated with Radio Pakistan. “Several microphones which were used in iconic dramas’ production by Radio Pakistan are also among the damaged equipment and the production unit of the building is badly affected.”

He said the administration was assessing the losses caused by the fire but initial findings suggested the losses would be worth more than Rs20 million.

The celebrated Studio-9, which had produced several mega-hit radio series, was also destroyed in the fire while huge facilities such as 14, B-2 and B-6, which used to host musical programmes and quiz shows, where people could attend such productions and participate live, were no more after the fire swept through the building.

A chair belonging to Z.A. Bukhari, the first Radio Pakistan director-general, which was also presented as an honour to sit in to different dignitaries visiting the historical building, was also among the destroyed relics.

Iqbal Faridi, station director of Radio Pakistan Karachi, said the losses were worth millions of rupees but a committee to be formed by the Pakistan Broadcast Corporation would determine both the value of the losses and the cause of the fire.

“We have standby transmitters to keep the transmission on,” he said. “Our library is intact and safe, so there is no damage to our priceless records but the losses of the equipment and infrastructure are huge at the same time.”

Ronaq Hayat, deputy controlling engineer of Radio Pakistan, did not see the studios destroyed by the fire getting back to operations in the near future.

“We are trying our best to take the minimum time for its renovation and get it equipped with the required stuff,” he added. “But obviously the intensity of the fire has almost ruined such facilities, which would take time to rehabilitate.”

The incident also sent shockwaves up to Islamabad, where the DG of the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, Javed Akhtar, flew in here in the evening.

“The DG is likely to hold a meeting with the Karachi station officials on late Sunday evening, where he may constitute an inquiry committee for the losses’ assessment and the cause of the fire,” said the source.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/29/local1.htm

Veiled women try to enter seminary

By Our Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD, Oct 28: About 40 women in burqas put the city police on tenterhooks when they descended in a group at the Jamia Fareedia seminary in the posh E-7 sector on Sunday.

Witnesses said women in black wanted to enter the seminary but the police contingent guarding the seminary, linked to the turbulent Lal Masjid, resisted their attempt.

Tempers frayed and police reinforcements were called in as the women insisted on entering the seminary for boys “to clean and prepare it for receiving Jamia Hafsa girls as directed by the Supreme Court”.

The police personnel immediately informed their highups when the situation started to deteriorate. Under the supervision of senior police officials of Islamabad police, a contingent of police armed with sophisticated weapons reached the spot and immediately cordon off the area.

Senior officials started negotiations with the group of women but remained unsuccessful and failed to send these women back.

Later senior police officials requested Umme Hassan, wife of Maulana Abdul Aziz, former Khateeb of Lal Masjid, to come to the seminary and convince the women to return back and avoid any unpleasant incident.

Ms Hassan, after arriving at Jamia Fareedia, held talks with the women and convinced them not to enter the seminary. After one-and-a-half hours the women returned back along with Ms Hassan.

Personnel of law enforcement agencies have been deployed at Jamia Fareedia since July 3. Educational activities were discontinued at the seminary soon after operation against Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafza was started.

‘Israel planned to hit Kahuta from India’s Jamnagar base’

NEW DELHI, Oct 28: India and Israel secretly planned to hit nuclear facility in Kahuta near Islamabad in 1983-84 but backed off when the CIA tipped off Pakistan’s then president Gen Ziaul Haq.

This was claimed in a report from London published in The Asian Age, citing details revealed by investigative journalists Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark in their book titled ‘Deception: Pakistan, the US and the Global Weapons Conspiracy’.

The authors highlighted India’s intelligence links with Israel at the time when the two countries did not have any diplomatic contact.

“In February 1983, with the strike plan at an advanced stage, Indian military officials had travelled secretly to Israel, which had a common interest in eliminating (Dr A.Q.) Khan, to buy electronic warfare equipment to neutralise Kahuta’s air defences,” the book said.

India put its plans on hold after Dr Raja Ramanna, the then director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, was warned by the then Chairman of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Munir Ahmed Khan in Vienna in the autumn of 1983 that Islamabad would attack Trombay if its facilities in Kahuta were hit.

At this juncture, the book said, Israel suggested that they would carry out the raid on Kahuta, using India’s Jamnagar base in Gujarat to launch its jets and use another base in northern India for refuelling the aircraft. “In March 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed off (on) the Israeli-led operation, bringing India, Pakistan and Israel to within a hair’s breadth of a nuclear conflagration.”

However, the authors said India and Israel backed down after the CIA tipped off Gen Zia and the US state department warned India that “the US will be responsive if India persists.”

The book further said Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had aborted the operation despite protests from military planners in New Delhi and Jerusalem.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/29/top8.htm

Jamaat to review strategy: Baloch

ISLAMABAD, Oct 27: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) will propose drastic changes in its party’s strategy to meet the challenges before the religious parties of the country, Muslim nations and Islamist organisations the world over, Naib Amir Liaqat Baloch says.

The changes would be discussed at a three-day congregation of the party scheduled in Lahore for Nov 3-5.

Insiders claim that the congregation is being held on the demand of party workers who want to vent their complaints and offer suggestions for reforms.

The party’s tough criteria for membership might come under discussion, sources said.

Talking to Dawn on Saturday, Mr Baloch said the need for the congregation was felt in view of the disturbing political situation in the country where forces of the so called enlightenment moderation were challenging the basic Islamic values and culture, and religious elements were being isolated at the behest of western propaganda.

Apart from the like-minded workers and voters, the party membership had increased to 25,000 members all over the country and Azad Kashmir in the last ten years, which was an increase of only about 6,000 while some 2,000 memberships were lost due to deaths and other reasons.

The congregation would set new working parameters, review relations with other religious parties and discuss issues relating to the western propaganda against Islam.

It would review the party’s strategy for the upcoming general elections.

The congregation was being held after a gap of 33 years and might also address issues such as lack of the party’s ability to absorb like-minded people as members.

According to the Jamaat’s constitution, the members are the top decision-making body which assign the job to the party’s central and provincial consultative committees (shuras), Mr Baloch said.

The congregation would include ‘training’ session, sermons by the top leadership and Q&A sessions.

PML will counter PPP agenda: Pervaiz

LAHORE, Oct 27: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi said on Saturday the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and its allies would counter what he called ‘the anti-Pakistan agenda floated by Benazir Bhutto’, but, at the same time, said she would be given full security upon her arrival in Punjab.

“Seeking security is everyone’s right. We will provide her foolproof security upon her arrival in the province,” he said while speaking at a news conference where he announced the inclusion of a PPP ticket-holder, Mehr Dastgir Lak, and his supporters, including nazims, in the ruling PML.

When confronted with reports suggesting his desire to become the next prime minister, he said a decision to this effect would be taken at the joint forum of the PML and its allied parties.

Nevertheless, he said, desire to field him as a candidate for the slot of prime minister was being expressed by different quarters. Such demands were also being preferred in the cabinet meetings, and the masses were raising related slogans in public rallies to agitate the same, he said.

The chief minister said the government was trying to take along those still clinging to the PML-N and all allied political parties to counter the PPP’s ‘anti-Pakistan policies and the agenda’, which Ms Bhutto had taken back home.

“We will fully oppose the PPP because this is necessary for the protection of the country,” he said.

He alleged that statements issued by Ms Bhutto were part of a well-considered agenda. Her statements about IAEA’s access to Dr AQ Khan and allowing foreign forces to carry out military operations in tribal areas were aimed at weakening the country’s sovereignty, he alleged.

The chief minister claimed that Ms Bhutto’s such policies had generated for her a strong aversion among the people besides inviting hostility from within her party rank and file.

The decision of Mr Lak and his companions to join the PML was a proof of the internal rift in the PPP, he claimed. He said Mr Lak had also returned the PPP ticket. Now, he would contest the next general elections from the PML’s platform, he said.

The chief minister said Ms Bhutto had twice attempted to file an FIR against him, but to no avail.

Her demand of involving foreign agencies to investigate the Karachi carnage was irresponsible. “Indeed, she has lost faith in Pakistani institutions because of her eight-year-stay abroad,” he said.

He asked as to why she had not involved foreign agencies to investigate the murder of her own brother, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, in 1996 when she was the country’s prime minister.

She had given nothing to the country and had been seeking pardon ‘which has been given to her’, he added.

Replying to a question on the recent statement issued by Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri about the return of Nawaz Sharif, he said he wondered as to why he (Mr Kasuri) said so whereas a few days ago President Pervez Musharraf had made it clear that Mr Sharif could not return.

He said Mr Sharif would not be able to return to Pakistan for three years, and the Saudi government had now stopped him from meeting the visitors too. Statements regarding his return to Pakistan in near future had no ground, he said.

Hamid Gul serves legal notice on Benazir

ISLAMABAD, Oct 27: Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general Lt-Gen (retired) Hamid Gul has served a legal notice on Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto for, what he said, including his name in a letter to President Gen Pervez Musharraf as her “potential assassin” and asked her to either prove her allegation in any court of law or tender an unconditional apology.

The notice, a copy of which was sent to the media, has been served by Mr Gul’s counsel Maqsood Hussain Qureshi.

In the notice, Mr Gul informed Ms Bhutto that he was ready to forgive and forget the incident if she tendered an unconditional apology or set up an inquiry commission comprising three individuals of her choice to conduct a probe into the matter to her full satisfaction and make the finding public.

He said he was ready to present himself before the commission while she could also bring up all the relevant evidence against him.

“Should you not agree to any of the above propositions within seven days of receipt of this notice, my client shall reserve the right to seek legal remedy and claim damages as provided in the law for tarnishing his reputation, defiling his honour and endangering his and the life of his family as well,” the lawyer said in the notice to Ms Bhutto.

Hameed Gul has given one week's notice to Benazir, so its at most 1 week till further action. So further update on 4th November 2007.

‘Nato may lose Afghan war if troops not increased’

WASHINGTON, Oct 27: If America’s Nato allies do not send more troops and weapons to Afghanistan, the war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda militants may be lost, warns The Washington Post.

In its lead editorial on Saturday, the Post notes that the United States and its Nato allies have already started blaming each other for the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.

This week, US Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates publicly blamed America’s Nato allies for failing to more supply troops and equipment for Afghan operations.

He even threatened to withdraw US troops from Kosovo if the allies continued to shy away from meeting their commitments in Afghanistan. The Post reports that at a recent meeting of Nato defence ministers, the Netherlands complained that — along with the United States, Britain and Canada – it bears the brunt of the fighting against the Taliban while Germany, Italy, Spain and most other Nato members restrict their soldiers to the safer parts of Afghanistan or ban them from combat.

“In reply, the German defence minister suggested that Nato’s aggressive military strategy in the south (of Afghanistan) does more harm than good,” the Post points out.

The newspaper, however, notes that such disputes have always been part of Nato but recent developments in Afghanistan do show that the situation there may get out of hand if not arrested immediately.

“There are real problems, both in the fighting and in the supply and distribution of forces, and they are worsening,” the Post warns.

Quoting UN and independent monitoring groups, the newspaper says that violence has increased significantly in Afghanistan for the second straight year, spreading from the southeast to areas close to Kabul.Coalition deaths, including 94 US soldiers killed, already exceed the full-year total for 2006.The Post points out that the disparity of effort among Nato members continues to be significant.

The United States contributes 15,100 troops to the 41,000-member Nato-led international force, known as ISAF, and deploys another 13,000 in counterterrorism operations.

Britain has 7,700 troops in the country. Thus Britain and the United States together account for more than half of ISAF’s strength.

Meanwhile, France and Germany together deploy 4,200 soldiers, or 10 percent of ISAF — and none serve in the areas where most of the fighting takes place.

Among other nations only Canada and the Netherlands, with 1,700 and 1,500 troops, are contributing substantially to anti-Taliban operations.

At the defence ministers’ meeting, some Nato allies have pledged to increase their participation, but only slightly.

Germany promised to send 200 more trainers for the Afghan army, and France pledged to send 50.“But the bottom line is that 2007 is looking like another year in which the Western alliance will lose as much as it gains in Afghanistan,” the Post warns.

“Unless the trend is arrested — which would require more troops, more resources and more willingness to put soldiers at risk — it will lead both Nato and Afghanistan to failure.”