Pakistani prisoner freed by India

By Our Staff Reporter
LAHORE, March 19: The Indian Border Security Force released a Pakistani prisoner at Wagah on Wednesday.

Jamal Qureshi, a native of Sukkur, was received by caretaker federal Minister for Human Rights Ansar Burney at the border.

Jamal’s relatives were also present at the border. Rangers officials allowed him to go with his family after completion of formalities. However, a spoksman for the Rangers said they had not received any formal intimation about the prisoner’s release.

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Sarabjit’s execution put off for a month

By Baqir Sajjad Syed
ISLAMABAD, March 19: President Pervez Musharraf has deferred the execution of condemned Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh for 30 days following fresh Indian diplomatic moves to get a reprieve for him.

“The president of Pakistan has been pleased to stay the execution of condemned prisoner Manjeet Singh alias Sarabjit Singh for a period of 30 days up to April 30, 2008,” said a presidential order issued on Wednesday.

Sarabjit was sentenced to death for his involvement in four bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan that killed 14 people. His execution was earlier fixed for April 1.

The Supreme Court rejected his mercy petition in March 2006 and upheld the death sentence. President Musharraf had rejected his mercy petition on March 3.

Sources said the execution had been deferred to get time to consider India’s clemency plea made on Tuesday.

The Indian government stressed that the execution would impinge on the ‘positive atmosphere’ between the two countries, particularly in view of a perception that the sudden decision to hang him was in retaliation for the unfortunate death of Pakistani prisoner Khalid Mehmood in a jail in India.

Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur has also sent a written appeal to President Musharraf.

Islamabad’s decision was reciprocated by New Delhi which released Pakistani prisoner Jamal Qureshi who had been arrested by Indian authorities in 2005 for possessing counterfeit Indian currency.

Reuters adds: Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Indian parliament about President Musharraf’s decision.

The deputy superintendent of Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore said: “We have received orders from the President’s House whereby the punishment has been deferred.”

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Umpire Hair vows to be good with players

 Thursday, March 20, 2008
 SYDNEY: Darrell Hair says he hopes to communicate better with the players when he returns to international test cricket umpiring after an absence of nearly 18 months.

``I've always been a little bit ... standoffish in that I've always preferred to let them play the game themselves and only get involved when things go overboard,'' Hair told a Sydney radio station Thursday.

Hair, reinstated as a test match umpire this week by the International Cricket Council, had been banned since November 2006 because of his conduct during a test between Pakistan and England that led to the first forfeit in test cricket's 129-year history.

``I won't say my whole attitude to umpiring has changed but I think I have picked up a few things that are going to be very helpful to me in the future,'' he said. ``Probably just ... having a broader understanding of what everybody else is thinking and the old communication issue of making sure that what you say and what you want is understood by the other people.''

His return comes after he completed a so-called ``rehabilitation program'' him handed him in September when he agreed to drop a claim of racial discrimination by the ICC.

Hair accused Pakistan of ball tampering and, when the team refused to take the field after a break, he and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove awarded the forfeit.

The ICC declined to say if the 55-year-old Australian could umpire any match involving Pakistan. Hair's position will be reviewed at the end of March 2009, the ICC said.

On Thursday, Hair said the incident ``caused me a lot of stress. I suppose it caused a lot of people some stress along the way.''

``The laws now have been changed to take those decisions out of the hands of the umpires and I fully support the way that that's going to happen in future,'' he added. ``So, it's time to move on.

Hair said he would be available to umpire in Pakistan.

``Part of my contract is that I'm available now to umpire test matches and one-day internationals,'' Hair said. ``Now whether that (umpiring in Pakistan) is going to happen I think you'll need to ask the people who make the appointments.''

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Hair included in elite panel, won’t supervise Pakistan matches

Thursday, March 20, 2008 DUBAI: Controversial umpire Darrel Hair has been included in the ICC elite panel but he will not supervise any match of Pakistan. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had reinstated the elite panel status of Darrel Hair on previous day but it was not pointed out that whether he would supervise the matches involving Pakistan or not. However, general manager ICC Dave Richardson said that the governing body of the ICC has decided that Darrel Hair would be kept away from umpiring those matches in which Pakistan would be involved.

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Baitullah among five proclaimed offenders

By Mudassir Raja

RAWALPINDI, March 18: An anti-terrorism court here on Tuesday declared Baitullah Mehsud and four other militants ‘proclaimed offenders’ in a case relating to the assassination of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto after they failed to appear in the court.

Special Judge of ATC-I Chaudhry Habibur Rehman issued the orders under Sections 87 (Proclamation for person absconding) and 88 (Attachment of property of person absconding) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1898 and directed investigators to put up ‘wanted’ posters for Mehsud and Ikramullah, the alleged second would-be suicide bomber, Abadur Rehman, Abdullah alias Saddam and Faiz Mohammad alias Kaskat.

The court was to formally frame charges against the five persons arrested in connection with the case – Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Abdul Rasheed, Hassnain Gul and Muhammad Rafaqat – but the hearing was adjourned till April 21 because of the absence of prosecution lawyers. The first three men are accused of concealing the conspiracy to kill Ms Bhutto and the other two of helping the suicide bomber.

Meanwhile, Aitzaz’s lawyer filed an application under the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance of 2000 demanding his separate trial because he was under 18 years of age at the time of his arrest. According to his birth certificate, he was born on April 19, 1992, in Karachi.

Lawyer of accused Sher Zaman filed a bail plea, saying no incriminating evidence had been produced against his client and the confessional statement of Aitzaz had been recorded under duress. Aitzaz had said that Sher Zaman was handling him as a suicide bomber on behalf of Baitullah Mehsud.

According to the bail application, Sher Zaman, a native of South Waziristan, was arrested from his house in Dera Ismail Khan on Jan 18 and not along with Aitzaz as claimed by police.Interestingly, the petitioner has included the name of PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in the list of respondents while the complainant in the December 27 case was a local SHO.

Hearing in cases related to suicide blasts in R.A. Bazaar and the on a road leading to the Army House was adjourned till April 1.

Mohammad Rafaqat and Hasnain are also involved in the two cases and are in Adiala Jail on judicial remand. Police charge-sheet is awaited in the cases.

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Clemency plea for Indian not to be entertained

By Syed Irfan Raza

ISLAMABAD, March 18: The government has decided not to entertain a fresh clemency appeal from the Indian government for an Indian convict, Sarabjit Singh, who is to be executed on April 1.

“He would be hanged on the exact date (April 1) and there would be no delay,” Interior Ministry spokesman Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema said on Tuesday.

He said at his weekly media briefing that the government had received a fresh mercy appeal from the Indian government but it would not be entertained.

The date of the execution was fixed after President Pervez Musharraf turned down his mercy petition. He has been convicted by superior courts of the country for committing acts of terrorism in Pakistan.

A notification for his execution has been sent to the Punjab government because the convict was in the custody of the Punjab police.

Mr Cheema said four American nationals who received injuries in a blast at an Italian restaurant in Islamabad were not personnel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

“One of them was a legal attaché of the US embassy and three others were his subordinates,” he added. The spokesman said they had flown back to their country the day after the blast.

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Ansar Burney says Indian set for gallows should have life sentence instead

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Minister for Human Rights, Ansar Burney Tuesday said President Pervez Musharraf should halt the execution of a convicted Indian terrorist and let him live out his days in jail. India's government is seeking a reprieve for Sarabjit Singh, jailed in Pakistan in 1990 for alleged spying and involvement in bomb blasts. He is scheduled to be hanged on April 1. Ansar Burney said he expected to receive an appeal for clemency from Singh's family this week. He said he would urge President Musharraf to convert Singh's sentence to life imprisonment.

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