E-Paper PakistanToday 14th January, 2012

No threat to democracy,parliament session was unwarranted, says Nisar

PAGE 04

Samsung Galaxy SIIversus the iPhone 4S –battle for supremacy

PROFIT | PAGE 04

pakistantoday.com.pkrs15.00 vol II no 198 22 pages lahore edition saturday, 14 january, 2012 safar 19, 1433

ISLAMABAD/LAHOREMIAN ABRAR/ShAfIq ShARIf

EELING the heat from theorder of a five-member benchof the Supreme Court, Na-tional Accountability Bureau(NAB) Chairman Admiral (r)

Fasih Bokhari started implementing theapex court orders against the NationalReconciliation Ordinance (NRO) on Fri-day and cases against all beneficiaries ofthe controversial law were reopened.

The arrests of a close aide of Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari and a close friendand former jail-mate of Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani by the accountabilitywatchdog came as a huge surprise, as Ad-miral (r) Bokhari had told the apex courtduring the last hearing of the NRO imple-mentation case only a few days ago thathe would not implement the verdict.

Within a single day, not only noticeswere issued to several accused people butalso big fish such as former Oil and GasDevelopment Company Limited(OGDCL) chairman Adnan Khwaja, for-mer establishment secretary IsmailQureshi and former joint director of theFederal Investigation Agency (FIA)Ahmed Riaz Shaikh - a close confidant ofPresident Zardari - were questioned and

detained, while the hunt was on for oth-ers.

A team of the NAB Special Opera-tions Wing took Qureshi, currently prin-cipal of the National School of PublicPolicy, in custody late on Friday nightwhile he was in a meeting at his office.

Sources close to Qureshi’s family toldPakistan Today that the NAB team ar-

rested Qureshi only half an hour afterPrime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani hadleft the school after meeting him.

Sources said Qureshi resisted arrestand informed the raiding party that hehad filed a writ petition for pre-arrest bailin the Lahore High Court and the LHC CJhad referred his matter to Justice Man-zoor for further action. Sources said the

raiding team did not pay heed to hiswords and took him into custody, sayingthey had clear orders to arrest him.Qureshi was arrested for his alleged in-volvement in financial embezzlement atthe National School of Public Policy.Qureshi was taken to the NAB Punjab

g NAB springs into action, arrests high-profile NRO beneficiaries, includingAhmed Riaz and Adnan Khawaja g Ismail Qureshi detained despite bail

ISLAMABADStAff RePoRt

While the government made hecticefforts on Friday to woo the oppositionparties to support its resolution infavour of democracy and parliament,Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani saidthe government would prefer to go tothe people rather than ask anyone to“save us from the NRO or the army”,suggesting that the resolution was nottabled to protect his government but insupport of parliament. Throughout hisspeech in the National Assembly, Gilanimade several indirect attacks against thejudiciary and the armed forces but didnot make any specific remarks againsteither institution. Interestingly, thespeech was punctuated by politicaltwists, contradictions and somersaults.While the desperate-looking primeminister sought the oppositions’ supportfor the resolution, he said he did notneed a vote of confidence as he was aunanimously elected prime minister.

Opp to convinceZardari to stepdown ahead of polls

ISLAMABADtAhIR NIAz

As the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-ledopposition parties decided on Friday toconvince President Asif Ali Zardari to stepdown ahead of the next general elections tomake the election process transparent, theyalso agreed to adopt a cautious approachand avoid any confrontation with thegovernment so that no third force could takeadvantage of the political chaos. The topleadership of the opposition parties met onFriday at a lunch hosted by PML-N chiefNawaz Sharif amidst efforts to unite at oneplatform and form a grand alliance to pushthe incumbent political dispensation out ofpower. A participant of the meeting toldPakistan Today that the oppositionleadership had decided to convince Zardarito step down ahead of the next generalelections to make them credible. However,he added, the opposition would not push thegovernment to the extent where a third partycould take advantage of the situation. Themeeting also expected a “changed” attitudefrom the main ruling party to avoid anyconfrontation with army and judiciary that,they feared, could change the wholespectrum of politics. A source said it wasJamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chiefFazlur Rehman who proposed that all theopposition parties should convince Zardarito step down ahead of elections. The meetingwas held at a time when the government haslocked horns with the army and judiciary ona number of issues and facing legalchallenges emanating from a warning by theSupreme Court to implement its order in theNRO case. Fazl, Jamaat-e-Islami chief SyedMunawar Hassan, former JI chief QaziHussain Ahmed, PkMAP chief MahmoudKhan Achakzai, Hasil Bizenjo, PPP-S chiefAftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Sajid Mir,Gohar Ayub Khan, Salim Saifullah and ProfKhurshid Ahmed attended the meeting,which is being considered the biggest andmost serious anti-government gathering inthe recent days. Another source said themajority of the opposition leaders were ofthe opinion that the opposition should adopta cautious approach to push the governmentfor early elections and rejected the proposalsgiven by Nawaz which called for a no-trustmotion against the government, long marchor en-mass resignation from the parliament.Talking to reporters after the meeting, PML-N spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said theparticipants of the meeting agreed on fivebasic points, however, they would take afinal decision in this regard soon. The pointsincluded: the government should announceelections immediately, electoral rolls mustbe completed as soon as possible, alldecisions of the Supreme Court must beimplemented and an independent electioncommission and a neutral caretakergovernment be formed. The meeting askedthe government to avoid confrontation withstate institutions.

nA resolution callsfor adherence to trichotomy principle


Fearing the democratic system may comeunder threat, the government on Fridaytabled a resolution in the National Assemblythat calls for adherence to the principle oftrichotomy of powers and expects all stateinstitutions to strictly function within thelimits imposed on them by the constitution.The resolution was moved by AwamiNational Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar WaliKhan. The draft resolution was tableddespite strong reservations from theopposition benches, to get endorsed fromthe House the efforts made by the politicalleadership for strengthening democracy inthe country. The draft resolution, whichremained the topic of discussion in theHouse for a considerable time, created aclear division between the treasury andopposition, with one side seeing no harm init and the other terming it absolutelyunwarranted. The resolution was redraftedto the acceptability of the opposition as thetwo sides continued divergent arguments onthe issue, but the draft could not convincethe leader of the opposition to change hisstance on the move. The resolution said:“This House believes that the presentdemocratic dispensation, which is about tocomplete four years, came into being as

Govt would rather go downthan beg for help: Gilanig PM says resolution not meant to protect his govt but in support of parliamentg Says he does not need vote of confidence as he is a unanimously elected PM

NEPRA approves Rs 3.01 perunit hike for LESCO, QESCOISLAMABAD: The National ElectricPower Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) onFriday approved an increase of up to Rs3.01 per unit in the power tariff for LahoreElectric Supply Company (LESCO) andQuetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO).NEPRA said the increase had beenapproved for the current financial year.Power tariff for lifeline consumers had beenraised by Re 1 per unit, other categories ofdomestic consumers by 50 paisas to Rs 3.01per unit, commercial consumers by Rs 2per unit, industrial consumers by Rs 2.60per unit and agricultural consumers by Rs1.50 per unit. Online

ContInued on page 04

gIlanI, kayanI to meet over memo | page 24


mQm undeCIded, pml-Q wIll support | page 02


adnan khwajaahmed rIaz shaIkhIsmaIl QureshI

ISLAMABAD: Prime

Minister Yousaf

Raza Gilani greets

opposition leader

Chaudhry Nisar Ali

Khan after the NA

session. Online

No Aussie uranium for Pakistan, says Julia Gillard

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02Saturday, 14 January, 2012

News

Today’s

lookQuick

lAHorE

Story on Page 05

nEwS

Story on Page 09

CArToon

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Alfatah sealed! Govt planning to buy new planes to make PIA profitable

ECP announces by-polls on

six seats on February 20ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) onFriday fixed February 20 for holding by-elections on fiveNational Assembly and one provincial assembly seats. Theseats were vacated by Shah Mehmood Qureshi (NA-148), JavedHashmi (NA-149), Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali (NA-140), JahangirKhan Tareen (NA-195) and Khawaja Muhammad Khan Hoti(NA-9). All these heavyweight politicians had tendered theirresignation to join Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.According to a statement by the ECP, nomination papers willbe received on January 19 and 20. On January 23 and 24,returning officers will scrutinise the nomination papers, it said.Appeals against acceptance or rejection of nomination paperswill be received until January 26, while February will be theday for withdrawal of candidature, the statement said. Therevised list of contesting candidates will be published onFebruary 3, the ECP said, adding that polling will be held onFebruary 20. The ECP will also conduct election for a PunjabAssembly seat, PP-44, which became vacant due to the death ofMir Amir Hayat Khan Rokhari. StAff RePoRt

All set to land in Pakistan,

says Mansoor IjazRejecting rumours that he wasbacktracking from his stance,the “memogate” scandal’scentral character Mansoor Ijazon Friday said he was all set toland in Pakistan. According to aprivate TV channel, Ijaz saidacquiring a visa for Pakistan wasnot a problem for him. However,he refused to reveal the date andtime of his touchdown inPakistan. Ijaz also refused tocomment on who was assistinghim in this regard. Ijaz warnedformer US envoy Husain

Haqqani of imminent disgrace, saying the evidence that hewould produce before the Supreme Court would “tighten thenoose around his neck”. “My then friend and now foe, HusainHaqqani must mind it that upon my arrival in Pakistan,everything will become crystal clear, he will have nowhere torun,” Ijaz said. Earlier, the High Commission in London hadsaid it had not yet received any visa application from Ijaz.According to a statement issued by Pakistani High Commissionin London, Foreign Office on January 9 directed the HighCommission to issue visa immediately after receivingapplication from Ijaz. MoNItoRING DeSK

Two corpses found in

Chagai districtQUETTA: Two dead bodies were recovered from differentparts of the Chagai district on Friday. According to Levyofficials, the local people informed them about the corpses,which they moved to a local hospital for autopsy. It is not yetclear if the victims were Baloch missing persons or werekilled in local disputes. The first body was recovered from theYak Machh area and the second was found in Lashkarab nearChagai district headquarters, Dalbandin. The identities ofthe victims could not be ascertained immediately. Elsewhere,a bomb exploded outside a local police station in Quetta onFriday night. The explosives were planted outside the policestation in Jinnah Town. Police said that nobody was injuredin the blast. StAff RePoRt

ISLAMABADMIAN ABRAR

Of the two major allies of the ruling Pak-istan People’s Party (PPP), the PakistanMuslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has de-cided to support the resolution tabled byAwami National Party (ANP) chief As-fandyar Wali Khan but the MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM) is still unde-cided on whether or not to support themove.

Though the treasury benches hadchanged the draft of the resolution sev-eral times under pressure from the al-lied parties, yet the MQM is unclearabout its decision. The ANP had pre-sented the resolution in support ofdemocracy and adherence to the princi-ple of trichotomy to ensure balance be-tween the three organs of the state.MQM spokesperson Wasay Jalil saidthe party would finalise its decision onthe resolution by Sunday.

Parliamentarians from the Feder-ally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)had also assured the government oftheir support, while the opposition par-ties were yet to decide their strategy. APML-Q leader told Pakistan Today that

his party would support the resolutionon Monday, when voting would be con-ducted in the assembly. Later, PML-QPresident Shujaat Hussain told a privatetelevision that his party was part of thegovernment and that it would supportthe resolution. He said the temperaturebetween the army and the governmenthad lowered during the past few days.He said those who wanted a clash be-tween institutions would be disap-pointed. Responding to a question,Shujaat said he had not met the armychief yet, but the matters would returnto normalcy within a week.

LAHOREAPP

Compliance with the constitution is theonly way forward to development, prosper-ity and integrity of the country, Prime Min-ister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Friday.

Addressing the participants in the 95thNational Management Course and the 10thSenior Management Course at NationalManagement College, Gilani said, “Ourconstitution envisages a federal republicwithin principles of democracy, freedom,equality, tolerance and social justice, asenunciated in Islam.”

Punjab Governor Latif Khosa was alsopresent while National School of PublicPolicy (NSPP) Rector Muhammad IsmailQureshi presented the welcome address.

Calling the constitution a greatachievement of the PPP under the dynamicleadership of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Gilanisaid the fundamental spirit of the constitu-tion was that all national policies had to bepeople-centric and not elite-centric. “Theexcellent document also provides over-arching parameters and mechanism forrunning state affairs,” he added.

“The government has achieved suchuphill tasks as dealing with internal politi-

cal instability, restoring the judiciary, re-building foreign exchange reserves, givinga more balanced 7th NFC Award and im-plementing the Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan Package. The recent 18thAmendment indicates the strategic direc-tion being followed by the democratic gov-ernment to achieve national objectivesenshrined in the constitution. Theseachievements have, indeed, strengthenedthe federal-provincial equation, therebyenhancing national integration. Thoughthis is not enough, we have set the right di-rection,” he said, adding, “We are deter-mined to strengthening democratic valuesand institutions. There is freedom of ex-pression, freedom of movement, freedomof assembly and freedom of association inthe country as guaranteed in Chapter 1,Part II, of the Constitution.”

The prime minister said a lot of politi-cal activity was going on in the country andthe people had now learned a lesson fromhistory that democracy was not easy but itwas the only viable option.

“Democracies are noisy, reflect powertussles and highlight internal conflicts,but it is only through democracy that wecan work together to forge nationalunity,” he observed.

Bombay HC okays Pak

judicial commission’s

visit in FebruaryNEW DELHI

INP

The Bombay High Court has given its consentto a Pakistani judicial commission to interviewkey people linked to the probe of the 2008Mumbai terror attacks. The High Court hasinformed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)that in-principle approval for the visit of thePakistani judicial commission has been givenand the team may come in first week ofFebruary. The MHA will soon convey thecourt’s approval for the visit to Pakistanthrough diplomatic channels, official sourcessaid. However, it is not clear when thedelegation’s visit will actually take place. Thecommission will take the statements ofAdditional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate RVSawant Waghule and Investigating OfficerRamesh Mahale, who have recorded theconfessional statement of Ajmal Kasab, the lonesurviving terrorist involved in the attack. Thiswould help the commission pursue the case athome. It also wanted to take the statements ofthe two doctors who carried out thepostmortem of the terrorists killed during theattack. Pakistan has already issued a gazettenotification on the formation of the judicialcommission and has listed the members whowill represent Pakistan government.

ISLAMABAD: PML-Q chiefChaudhry Shujat Hussain on Fridaysaid that PML-N chief Nawaz Sharifshould “talk to us” if he wantedelections earlier than schedule.Talking to reporters, Shujaataccused the PML-N of “embroilingthe government in unnecessarycrisis” and “hindering any effectiveprogress of the nation”. oNLINe

MQM undecided, PMl-Q to

support AnP’s resolution

Talk to us for earlypolls: Shujaat to Nawaz

Following constitution only

way to prosperity: Gilani

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami activists stage a sit-in

demonstration outside Police Headquarters on II

Chundrigar Road against the alleged kidnapping

of their party colleagues on Friday. Online



NewsCoMMEnTonly rational course

Articles on Page 12-13

The PPP should obey the SC’s orders.

on Saleem ShehzadA crime without a perpetrator.

Arif Nizami says:Life is unfair: Pakistani politics, even more so.

White Lies:At a wedding in Dubai, President Musharraf was the one that drew the greatestcrowd among “politicians”. If this is the kind of warm response he gets at publicgatherings then his belief and regular statements that he is “popular in Pakistan”are quite understandable.

ForEIGn nEwS

Story on Page 16

ArTS & EnTErTAInMEnTMadonna breaks silence on Gaga ‘Born this Way’ controversy

Story on Page 19

SPorTSWarner wallops clueless India

Story on Page 20

Court orders new psychiatric evaluation of Norway gunman


TH E Supreme Court on Fridaygranted more time to formerlaw minister and senior lawyerBabar Awan to engage a lawyerto defend him in a contempt of

court case.A two-member SC bench comprising

Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and JusticeMuhammad Ather Saeed had taken up acontempt of court case against Awan.

Appearing on notice, Awan requestedthe court to grant him more time to engagea counsel. He said he deemed it appropri-ate to appear before the court along withhis counsel. He said he also wanted to filehis reply to the contempt notice throughhis lawyer.

The court granted him until February 2to engage a lawyer, observing that, “Wehope he will behave with caution in themeantime”.

“What have you been doing for so manydays?” Justice Saeed asked Awan, whoreplied, “I have some responsibilities toshoulder as I am parliamentarian… I amnot going anywhere”, he said.

Earlier on January 4, the court had is-sued contempt of court notices to Awan

and another four PPP leaders, includingtwo sitting ministers for holding a ‘con-temptuous’ press conference at the PressInformation Department, which had cate-gorically rejected the Supreme Court’s De-cember 1, 2011 decision in the ‘memo’ case.

Just after being served the notice, Awanagain spoke to the media and recited a cou-plet in Punjabi meaning that “nothing hap-pened despite issuance of a notice. Whycomplain to the darling and not welcomeit”.

On January 5, the court abruptly put offthe hearing of the presidential reference forrevisiting the death sentence awarded toformer prime minister and PPP founderZulfikar Ali Bhutto, and issued anothershow cause notice to Awan, asking him toexplain and file a reply until January 9 ex-plaining why his licence to practice law atthe Supreme Court should not be cancelledfor ridiculing the SC time and again.

On January 9, the court had adjournedfor an indefinite period the hearing of thecontempt case due to the demise of fatherof Justice Nasirul Mulk, a member of the11-judge bench, hearing the presidentialreference for revisiting the death sentenceawarded to former prime minister and PPPfounder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Besides, Awan, the contempt noticeswere issued to Minister for Religious Af-fairs Khurshid Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira,Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awanand Adviser to Prime Minister FarooqAwan for addressing the controversialpress conference.


Interior Minister Rehman Malik and In-formation Minister Firdous Ashiq Awanon Friday announced that tensions be-tween state institutions had been re-moved, and the Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) government would complete itstenure.

Talking to reporters outside the Par-liament House, the two ministers saidthe PPP government did not believe inconfrontation with other institutions ofthe state. Awan said the people hadelected the PPP for a period of five years,

and the next elections would be held ontime.

She said misunderstandings createdby some elements among the institutionswould soon be removed. In response to aquestion, she said the Defence CabinetCommittee would discuss the NATO re-port on the attack on Pakistani borderposts in November.

Meanwhile, the interior minister saidthat tensions between state institutionshad been defused, and the issues wouldbe resolved in a week’s time. He tried todispel the notion that there was any fric-tion between the government and theSupreme Court and military. He said the

institutions did not want confrontationand that the present situation was “justa reflection of the transition to democ-racy”.

When asked why the PPP allies hadnot supported the original draft of thegovernment’s proposed resolution,Malik said that difference of opinionwas the democratic right of a personand the government’s allies had sup-ported the efforts for the continuationof democracy. Responding to anotherquestion, the minister said there was nosecurity threat to Mansoor Ijaz and hewould be provided security during hisstay in the country.

Awan gets more time to engage lawyer in contempt caseg Former law minister says he wants to file his reply to notice through lawyer

Awan, Malik deny confrontation

between state institutions

PIR JO GOTHINP

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Fri-day called for the unification of all factions ofthe Muslim League in Sindh, as he offered hiscondolences to the family of Pir Sahib Pagara.

Shahbaz said that Pagara’s death had cre-ated a void in Pakistani politics which wouldbe difficult to fill. He said that he had come tooffer condolences on behalf of the people ofPunjab and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. He said Pir Pagara was a great spiri-

tual leader and a prominent politician whomade great sacrifices for Pakistan whichwould be remembered for the time to come.

He refused to respond to the statementsof Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and saidit was time to get rid of a government that hadtaken the country to the brink of disaster.

The Punjab CM said unemployment andpoverty were on the rise while there was noelectricity and gas leading to the closure of in-dustries. He said corruption was rampant inthe country and it had become difficult for anordinary person to feed his family.

DG ISI turned memo into

a public issue: AsmaLAHORE: Asma Jahangir,former president of theSupreme Court Bar Association(SCBA), on Saturday held thechief of the Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI) responsiblefor publicising the memo issue.Speaking at the inaugural of abook on famous poet HabibJalib, she said the controversywas not known publicly untilISI chief General Ahmad ShujaPasha had met Pakistani-American businessmanMansoor Ijaz. She said that

Ijaz’s arrival in Pakistan to testify before the judicialcommission would make no difference, and the scandal would“end into nothing”. About the ongoing standoff between thestate organs, she said that she felt the judiciary was not freeand “the sound of army boots” continues to be heard. She saidthe establishment in Pakistan “influences elections and worksonly for its own interests”. NNI

Shahbaz urges unification of

all PMl factions in Sindh



News

Reacting to OppositionLeader Chaudhry Nisar AliKhan’s remarks that the op-position did not have confi-dence in the government,the prime minister said itwas not a matter of confi-dence or no-confidence, asit was all about the demo-cratic process. He alsourged the opposition to getthe constitution amended toreduce the tenure of thegovernment and parliamentfrom five to four years ifthey did not like, him but noone else should tell the gov-ernment to go before theend of its term.

“We would support thisamendment. Why shouldany other institution tell usto leave after four years?This is the right of parlia-ment, so you should bringan amendment to reducethe term of the prime minis-ter and the parliament tofour years,” he said. He alsobrushed aside the impres-sion that the ruling partywanted to trigger a con-frontation between the stateinstitutions and commit po-litical suicide. “We don’twant confrontation betweenthe state institutions nor is(political) martyrdom ourobjective. We also did notcome here to get your rec-ommendations in supportof the National Reconcilia-tion Ordinance (NRO) andwe will also not beg for yoursupport to save us from thearmy. We have reached thispoint after a struggle,” hesaid, adding that the resolu-tion was aimed at strength-ening parliament.

Seeking support from

the opposition for the reso-lution moved by the treas-ury benches, Gilani said thelawmakers should gel to-gether to strengthen parlia-ment as even “crows getunited in difficult times”. Inorder to persuade PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) members to sup-port the resolution, Gilanireminded them how all the17 judges of the SupremeCourt had gathered at nighton a “misinformation” thathe was going to de-notifythe judges who had been re-stored. “This news wasmore of a misinformationand absurd but they all gottogether. It happens as evencrows get together in diffi-cult times. On my assur-ance, the judges asked me tostate in writing that theywould not be de-notified infuture. But I told them thatthey were released on myverbal orders in my firstspeech, even though I hadnot taken oath after beingelected. They were restoredon my executive order. Itold them that they wouldhave to believe on verbal as-surance of an elected primeminister, but I would notgive this in writing,” hesaid.

Gilani also said he wasbooked under treasoncharges for supportingChief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry andhad no regrets for that. “Butthis cannot happen that weask you to reopen the ZABhutto case and you term ustraitors. Even the judge whogave verdict against Bhuttoadmitted in his book that itwas judicial murder,” he

added. The prime minister was

interrupted with cried of“No, no” by his own col-leagues when he remindedthe PML-N members thatlike them, the Pakistan Peo-ple’s Party (PPP) membershad also faced brutal torturein their struggle for demo-cratic order in the country.

“We, like you, were alsosubjected to lashes whilestruggling for democracy,”he said, but was interruptedby his colleagues who re-minded the prime ministerthat none of the PML-Nmen had fought against theautocracy of General ZiaulHaq in the 1970s. It is, how-ever, a historical fact thatthe prime minister’s elderswere with the PML in the70s. Gilani immediatelycorrected himself by statingthat though no PML-N lead-ers had to face lashes, butpeople like MakhdoomJaved Hashmi were sub-jected to torture along withhim in jail for the cause ofdemocracy. He said it wasto his government’s creditthat for the first time in thecountry’s history, the armychief and the ISI DG hadbeen made accountable toparliament.

Referring to the resolu-tion, moved in the NationalAssembly by Awami Na-tional Party (ANP) chief As-fandyar Wali Khan, theprime minister said the res-olution was not against anyinstitution but meant tosupport the democraticprocess and continuity ofthe parliamentary system inthe country.

Even though he vowed

that he would never seekhelp from the opposition,Gilani said urged the oppo-sition to support parlia-ment. “You should protectyourself, you should protectthe parliament,” he said.

He also said the NROwas not drafted by the PPPbut no one was talkingabout its creator. “Now thesame dictator is talkingabout returning to the coun-try as the people want himback,” he said in a tauntingtone. “Let us decide that ei-ther there will be democracyor there will be dictatorshipin the country,” he said,adding that his governmentmight have made mistakesbut parliament should notbe punished for the wrong-doings of the government.Recalling the removal ofPML-N government in Oc-tober 1999, Gilani said itwas also a conspiracyagainst an elected govern-ment that enjoyed a two-thirds majority.

“Let me tell you even ifmy government is sentpacking and any new stageis set up, neither the oppo-sition nor we will be givenpower. We are politicalworkers. We may commitmistakes but democracyshould not suffer,” headded. Gilani said al-though the treasurybenches had majority inthe House, he did not wantto bulldoze the resolutionthrough but wanted to takethe opposition along. Hesaid since the oppositionwanted some time, the vot-ing on the resolution maybe held on Monday toachieve consensus.

Government would ratherContInued from page 1

Office at Thokar Niaz Baigalong with Khwaja, wherethey will both be detainedfor one night and will bemoved to Rawalpindi earlyon Saturday (today) inorder to present them incourt.

The arrest of Shaikhmay jolt the presidentialcamp as the president hadpardoned him earlier.Shaikh was been ap-pointed FIA additional di-rector general despitebeing an NRO beneficiary.The Supreme Court hadtaken notice of the issueand on orders from thecourt, he was rearrestedby the police. He was sen-tenced to 14 years inprison on 2001 on chargesof corruption, but he ben-efitted from the NRO.While he was in jail, notonly did important Pak-istan People’s Party (PPP)personalities meet him,but the president alsogranted general pardon toall the prisoners to gethim out of jail.

Adnan Khwaja, who isnot only an NRO benefici-ary but also a jail-mate ofPrime Minister Gilani, wasfirst appointed theOGDCL director generaland was subsequently re-moved after the SupremeCourt took suo motu no-tice of the appointment.He is an FA-pass individ-ual without any relevantexperience who was ap-pointed OGDCL’s manag-ing director on September9, 2010 in clear violationof the rules.

Arrest warrants wereissued for around half adozen accused and it wasexpected that more arrestswould be made soon. Asource in NAB told Pak-istan Today that the bu-reau’s chief hadreactivated the SpecialOperations Wing only afew days ago. Arrest war-rants were issued by theNAB’s Rawalpindi and La-hore offices against thosewho had benefited fromthe NRO or else werewanted on directions from

the apex court. He saidKhwaja and Shaikh hadappeared before NAB of-fices and were detainedwhile arrest warrantsagainst others were is-sued.

In its verdict in theNRO implementation caselast week, the five-mem-ber bench headed by Jus-tice Asif Saeed Khosa hadquestioned the attitude ofthe NAB chairman,terming it “defianceagainst the court” asBokhari had reportedly re-fused to implement theverdict. The warrants wereissued against Qureshi,Shaikh, Tahir Shahbaz,Raja Ahsen, Akhlaq Jillaniand RA Zia. The sourcesaid efforts were on to ar-rest others who had failedto appear before NAB.Qureshi was the establish-ment secretary whenKhwaja was appointedOGDCL chief, while TahirShahbaz was additionalsecretary and RA Zia wasserving as the Cabinet Di-vision deputy secretary.

nABBeDContInued from page 1

ISLAMABAD StAff RePoRt

National Assembly Opposi-tion Leader and senior Pak-istan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N)leader Chaudhry Nisar AliKhan said on Friday therewas no threat to democracyand parliament, rather thegovernment wanted to usethe House for its own inter-ests.

Speaking on a point oforder in the National As-sembly, he strongly ob-jected to summoning asession in urgency andwithout taking the opposi-tion parties into confidence,saying he was unable to un-derstand what forced thegovernment to summon asitting and pass a resolutionas there was no threat toparliament or democracy.

Nisar rejected the gov-

ernment’s intention to seekparliament’s confidence inthe prime minister and thepresident at this juncture,questioning whether theopposition moved a no-con-fidence motion against thepremier or had any of theallies quit the government,which prompted it to pass aresolution in the House infavour of the government.“I am unable to understandwhy the government wishesthe parliament to expressconfidence in it at this par-ticular juncture,” he added.“We have no confidence inthe government and still itis expecting that we will re-pose confidence in it,” hesaid.

He also termed thedraft resolution unwar-ranted and added that thegovernment’s failures werethe real threat to the sys-tem. He said the govern-

ment never summoned asession to discuss inflationor load shedding, neitherdid it summon sessionsafter the Abbottabad inci-dent and the NATO attack.“Let us know whom it is youfear so much… Why do youwant to use this House forpersonal interests?” headded.

He said the SupremeCourt decision in the Na-tional Reconciliation Ordi-nance (NRO) case could notbe discussed in the House.He said if the governmenthad some administrative is-sues with the army, it wasnot worthy of being dis-cussed in the House either.

Nisar made it clear thatthe opposition would not letthe government use theHouse to advance its per-sonal agenda as the opposi-tion also had options toblock it. The PML-N leader

said it was for the first timein the history of the countrythat no one from the oppo-sition was supporting anyundemocratic or unconsti-tutional change.

Nisar also came downhard on one of the federalcabinet members, saying hetried to malign the PML-Nleadership. Without nam-ing the PPP minister, Nisarwarned that if he continuedwith his maligning cam-paign, the other side willalso come up with some“stories and documents”.

Replying to Nisar, Re-ligious Affairs MinisterSyed Khurshid Shah saidthe session was sum-moned to debate whatwas being discussed out-side parliament. Hesought the opposition’ssupport for the resolutionas “it must be undisputedand unanimous”.

a result of great sacrificesrendered by the people ofPakistan. This House reiter-ates the belief of the demo-cratic forces that the future ofPakistan and well-being of itspeople lies in the continua-tion and strengthening ofdemocratic institutions andconstitutionalism for the res-olution of national issues,strengthening of the federa-tion and empowering thepeople of Pakistan.”

It further said: “This

House believes that for thefurtherance of democracyand democratic institutionsthe basic constitutional prin-ciple of trichotomy of powersmust be fully respected andadhered to and all state insti-tutions must strictly functionwithin the limits imposed onthem by the Constitution.The House reiterates thatsovereignty lies with the peo-ple of Pakistan and the par-liament is the repository ofthe collective wisdom of thepeople.”

“This House endorses

and supports the effortsmade by the political leader-ship for strengtheningdemocracy and reposes fullconfidence and trust inthem,” the resolution con-cluded. Before amendments,the draft resolution hadsought the House to endorsethe efforts made by the pres-ident and prime minister forstrengthening democracyand repose full confidenceand trust in them. Later, thespeaker adjourned the houseto meet again on Mondayevening (January 16).

nA resolutionContInued from page 1

No threat to democracy: NisarISLAMABAD

StAff RePoRt/APP

Former defence secretary LtGeneral (r) Khalid NaeemLodhi on Friday said that hewould challenge his sacking incourt because the prime minis-ter had no justification in ter-minating his services.

Talking to Geo News,Lodhi said, “The prime minis-ter has given no reason forsacking me. Actually I havebeen punished for not signingan affidavit prepared by thegovernment, which was meantto prove that the military lead-ers’ replies in the court wereagainst the prescribed rulesand regulations. How could Isign a document that was notprepared by me and I was notaware of the exact contents.”

If the former defence sec-retary goes to the court to chal-lenge his termination, it wouldfurther complicate the politicalcrisis and create more prob-lems for the government, ac-

cording to observers.Meanwhile, a spokesman

of the Establishment Divisionhas said that Lodhi sent the let-ters to the Supreme Courtwithout seeking approval of thedefence minister and also with-out getting the comments vet-ted from the Ministry of Law,Justice and Parliamentary Af-fairs required under Rules ofBusiness 1973, which havebeen framed under Article 99of the Constitution.

The spokesman said thatwhen the defence ministersought an explanation fromLodhi for not observing thelegal provision, he submittedthat he was new to the job andwas, therefore, ignorant of therules.

He said the defence minis-ter then referred the matter tothe Ministry of Law, Justiceand Parliamentary Affairs forexpert views which informedhim that Lodhi’s action was inutter and gross violation of themandatory rule.

7-judge SC benchto hear nro case

ISLAMABADMASooD RehMAN

A seven-member bench of theSupreme Court headed byJustice Nasirul Mulk wasconstituted on Friday to hearthe National ReconciliationOrdinance (NRO) verdictimplementation case onJanuary 16, along with thealready laid out six-options, ofwhich one could possibly bepart of the final judgment.However, a well placed sourcetold Pakistan Today on Fridaythat the government was likelyto move an application in theSC today (Saturday) seekingmore time to implement allportions of the NRO verdictand consequent directions, onthe grounds that it had startedimplementation of the verdict,however, more time wasrequired to implement all itsportions. He said theimplementation of the verdictto the extent of NAB cases hadbeen started by thegovernment. The source saidthe law secretary was stillabroad and would mostprobably return by the end ofnext week. The benchcomprises Justice NasirulMulk, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa,Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany,Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, JusticeIjaz Ahmed Chaudhry, JusticeGulzar Ahmed and JusticeMuhammad Ather Saeed. OnJanuary 10, a five-judge specialbench headed by Justice AsifSaeed Khan Khosa, in its shortorder on non-implementationof the NRO verdict by thegovernment, had laid out sixoptions it (court) could takeagainst the willful disobedienceof the government inimplementing the NRO verdictand its consequent directions.

ex-defence secy tochallenge sacking

g opp leader says government must let opposition know whom it fears so much

WASHINGTON/RIYADHAfP

The United States and theUnited Kingdom havewarned Iran’s leadersagainst closing the strategicStrait of Hormuz.

The New York Times,citing unnamed US offi-cials, late on Thursday saidthe White House had com-municated to Iran’sSupreme Leader AyatollahAli Khamenei that closingthe strait would be a “redline” and provoke a re-sponse.

The officials did notprovide further detailsabout the covert communi-cation channel, except tosay that it was separatefrom the Swiss government,through which the US occa-

sionally relays messages toIran’s leaders.

The White House wouldnot confirm specifically thatit had contacted Iranthrough the secret channelregarding the Strait, butsaid it had ways of makingits views clear to the Iraniangovernment.

Meanwhile, BritishPrime Minister DavidCameron warned that the“whole world” would takeaction if Iran closed thestrategic Strait of Hormuz.

“It is in the interests ofthe whole world that thosestraits are open and, if therewas any threat to closethem, I am sure the wholeworld would come togetherand make sure they stayedopen,” Cameron told Al-Arabiya television.

Hamid Khan

group’s Zulfiqar

wins lBA elections LAHORE: Chaudhry Zul-fiqar of the pro-judiciary Pro-fessional Group of HamidKhan was elected the newpresident of the Lahore BarAssociation (LBA) on Friday.He defeated Nauman Qureshiof Friends’ Group led by AsmaJehangir and People’sLawyers Forum (PLF). A total5,650 votes were cast of the11,670 eligible votes in theelections of the Lahore districtbar. Zulfiqar won the electionswith a lead of 350 votes by se-curing 2,208 votes, while hisrival bagged 1,857 votes. Zul-fiqar enjoyed the support ofseveral political parties, in-cluding the PML-N and Ja-maat-e-Islami. Nauman wasbeing backed by PPP lawyers,Asma Jehangir, Punjab Gov-ernor Latif Khosa, SCBA Pres-ident Yasin Azad, PCO judgesand Punjab Bar Council. Thevote count for the seats of vicepresident and secretariescould not be completed untillate night. JAMALuDDIN JAMALI

US, UK warn iranover blockingStrait of Hormuz


Saturday, 14 January, 2012

Devotees gather forData Gunj Baksh’s urs

amid tight security

PAGE 08

LAHOREYASIR hABIB/IMRAN ADNAN

AFTER a year of inactionagainst plazas for violat-ing building bylaws, La-hore DevelopmentAuthority (LDA) on Fri-

day woke from its slumber to raise po-litical controversy by sealing AlfatahStore on the charge of violating buildingby-laws. Eyebrows were raised since theLDA action came after Alfatah storeowner Irfan Iqbal Sheikh announced hisdecision to join Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), emerging rival of Punjab’sruling party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).CHAngE Of LOyALTy, EnD OfpRIvILEgES: LDA sources said whilethe Alfatah Store management had con-structed illegal structures in the basementand adjoining buildings, the store manage-ment’s amicable relations with PML-Nmeant LDA action was put on ice. Sourcessaid the LDA had served Alfatah notices asper routine but had restrained actionagainst the store. However, after the Alfa-tah owner pledged loyalty to Imran Khan,the decision to seal the store was taken.

After Friday prayers, PTI workers andLiberty Market businessmen in the proxim-ity of LDA-built controversial Park andRide Plaza, a case against which is stillpending in court, led a protest against thesealing of Alfatah. Protesters besieged lib-erty roundabout and chanted slogansagainst the Punjab government for ‘revengepolitics’ and providing no reasons for seal-ing the store. Protestors later unlocked theLDA seals and challenged authorities’ tit-for-tat. The protest was organised by InsafTraders Wing (ITW) and PTI office-bear-ers, including PTI Lahore President MianMahmood-ur-Rashid, PTI’s InformationDepartment Chief Ishtiaq Malik and ITWPresident Mustafa Rashid participated.Liberty Police Station registered case num-ber 58/59 under Section 290-291 againstAlfatah owner Irfan Iqbal Sheikh and 80unidentified persons for protest and block-ing the main road. ‘THIS IS pOLITICAL vICTIMISATIOn’:Speaking to Pakistan Today, Alfatah ownerIrfan Sheikh said the DCO Lahore hadclosed his store in the morning in an act ofpolitical victimization. He said the PML-Nhad victimised him for exercising his dem-ocratic right to choose a party. He said hisstore had operated in Liberty Market for

decades, butneither theLDA nor an-other gov-e r n m e n tdepartmenthad raisedo b j e c t i o n son the ques-tion of theviolation ofbuilding by-laws. He saidno govern-ment depart-

ment had ever issued a notice to the storemanagement before sealing it. All-PakistanAnjuman Tajiraan, Gulberg Traders Board,Hafeez Centre and Azam Cloth MarketTraders and other traders associationsjoined the call for the government to undoits action immediately.ALfATAH’S BUILDIng LAw vIOLATIOnS:Officially, LDA Town Planning Wing staffsealed Alfatah Store, Commercial Zone,Gulberg III, for committing six buildingbylaws violations and failure to remove theillegal encroachments despite being servedmultiple notices by LDA. The High RiseCommission, appointed by the SupremeCourt of Pakistan, had, after inspecting thestructure, directed the demolition of Alfa-tah’s unauthorised constructions.

The LDA identified the following irreg-ularities at the site;

(1) Illegal extension of basement underthe front arcades to include extra spacewithin the store. This is a non-compound-able illegality. The construction must beremoved.

(2) Illegal extension/attachment ofbasement to two adjacent plazas, property52 and 53, commercial zone, Gulberg III,against the sanctioned plan and withoutLDA approval.

(3) Building projected onto road sidefrom first to top floor. The projection mustbe removed.

(4) Steel structure projection to createbalcony and electric sub-station in rearbalcony towards the road has to be re-moved.

(5) Arcades on front side raised whichmust be brought to normal level.

(6) Encroaching rear arcade by con-structing wall and placing generator. Bothmust be removed.

LDA officials said the Alfatah buildingcaught fire a few years ago causing hugelosses. They said the LDA had served manynotices to the owners to remove the build-ing bylaw violations but to no avail andtherefore the LDA took legal action on Fri-day to seal the building.HISTORy: After the Margala Tower col-lapse in 2005, a 3-member Supreme Courtcommission comprising Justice (r) RiazKayani, architect Kamal Khan and UET VCnominee Tahir Ahmad identified over1,100 high-rises violating building bylawsin 2009. Some 724 buildings were in-spected in LDA-controlled area and recom-mended action against 551 buildings,including 149 total demolitions and 402partial demolitions.

However, when former LDA directorgeneral Umer Rasool submitted his appli-cation to register corruption cases againstbuilding owners and LDA officials, figureswere fudged, and the application claimedthe SC commission had inspected 450buildings, not 724 buildings.

The application reduced the number ofrecommended buildings from 551 to 291,with 214 partial and 77 total demolitionsapproved. LDA sources attribute the differ-ence between the SC recommended 551and LDA DG approved 291 buildings to aclandestine deal to protect the owners of260 plazas.

AlfAtAh seAled!g lDA seals superstore after owner declares loyalty to PTig Pending SC order to demolish violations activated after a year g Owner says no notice served, being made political victim

SIX VIolATIonS THAT SEAlED AlFATAH:1

2

3

4

5

6

Basement extended under front arcades

Basement extended into adjacent plazas without LDA approval

Building projected onto road side from first to top floor

Steel structure projection to create balcony, place electric sub-station in rear balcony

Arcades on front side raised

Encroaching rear arcade by constructing wall and placing generator.

I have been victimisedfor exercising my rightto choose a political

party. no notice was ever issuedto the store management.

IRfAN SheIKh Alfatah owner

Police in riot gear stand outside sealed

Alfatah store on Friday. Murtaza Ali



Lahore

CInEMA FIlM TIME

DHA CInEMA CloSEDPH: 35747531

CInE STAr MISSIon IMPoSSIBAl 4 2:30 PMPH: 35157462 ConTrABAnD 5:00 PM

PlAyErS 7:00 PMDon 2 10:00 PMPlAyErS 01:00 AM

CInE GolD PlAyErS 12:00 PMPH: 35340000 PlAyErS 2:30 PM

Don 2 3:00 PMMISSIon IMPoSSIBAl 4 6:00 PMPlAyErS 9:00 PMDon 2 12:00 AM

SoZo GolD lADIES VS rICKy BAHl 10:30 PMPH: 36674271 lADIES VS rICKy BAHl 12:30 PM

DIrTy PICuTrE 02:30 PMDESI BoyZ 05:30 PMDESI BoyZ 08:00 PM

SoZo worlD DIrTy PICuTrE 12:00PMDIrTy PICuTrE 05:15 PMDIrTy PICuTrE 10:40 PMlADIES VS rICKy BAHl 02:30 AMlADIES VS rICKy BAHl 08:00 AM

PAF CInEMA DESI BoyZ 2:30 PMPH: 36688880 lADIES VS rICKy BAHl 5:00 PM

DIrTy PICuTrE 7:30 PMDIrTy PICuTrE 10:00 PM

LAHORE: Representatives of the Mazdoor Action Com-mittee held a protest against the extended outages andanti-worker government policies at Shahdara on Friday.The rally began from the Rustam Sohrab MotorcycleFactory gate and was led by the Emco Employs Unionpresident Akram Gujjar, Pakistan Trade Union DefenceCommittee central leader Adam Pal, Ittehad Chemicalsand United Labour Federation leader Hafiz Aashiq, Na-tional Labour Federation leader Amin Bhatti, MillatTractors CBA Union leader Rana Asghar, Laier Pak CBAUnion president Boota Shah, Rustam Sohrab CBA UnionPresident Rana Asghar, Hala Enterprises workers repre-sentative Chaudhry Ashraf, All-Pakistan ProgressiveYouth Alliance central organizer Amjad Shahsawar andBerozgar Naujwaan Tehreek central leader RashidKhalid. The participants of the rally shouted slogans say-ing, “War will continue til gas and electricity remainshut.” PReSS ReLeASe

lCWU partners with British Council for education Resource Centre

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

The Lahore College for Women University(LCWU) Faculty Development Centre onFriday partnered with the British CouncilPakistan to set up an International Edu-cation Resource Centre at LCWU.

The decision was made in a meetingbetween LCWU Vice Chancellor DrSabiha Mansoor, deans and heads of de-partments of the college and BritishCouncil Pakistan Education UK headNadia Kamran.

Speaking on the occasion, NadiaKamran said that the purpose of settingup the student hub was to promote in-ternational education programmes withthe expressed goal of increasing knowl-edge transfer, student and staff mobilityand sharing of best practices betweenthe academic communities in Pakistanand the UK.

The British Council would facilitate,build the capacity and mentor 18 faculty

members at the LCWU in the areas of Ca-reer Counseling, Transnational Educa-tion, Linkages and ResearchCollaboration, Digital Aspects of Interna-tionalisation, Coordinating Activities andPublications, Attracting Regional Stu-dents, Business Entrepreneurship, Staffand Student Mobility and Social Entre-preneurship.

Kamran said that the selected facultymembers would be trained for 6-8 weeksafter which they would be kept in contactthrough meetings, e-mail, skype andvideo conferences so that they could en-hance their administrative and manage-rial faculties to uplift their institutionnationally and internationally.

Dr Sabiha Mansoor appreciated theBritish Council for their cooperation inthis regard.

She expressed the vision to raise theLCWU to the top 500 universities in theworld, adding that setting up an interna-tional education resource centre wouldhelp achieve the goal.

A year on, stowaway enquiry remains shelved

LAHOREShAfIq ShARIf

POLICE appear to haveshelved the inquiry in astowaway case that tookplace exactly a year agoand are without a clue on

the missing boy in the case, Pak-istan Today learnt on Friday.

The stowaway case came to thesurface when a 19-year-old boy wasfound dead on the rooftop of a housein Al-Faisal Town in the North Can-tonment Police Station precinctson January 13, 2011.

The incident was reported by theowner of the house, Haji Muham-mad Afzal. The body was taken tothe Mayo Hospital morgue for au-

topsy and after five days of the inci-dent, the police had managed toidentify the boy as MuhammadQasim Siddique, a resident of theNaqshbandi Bazaar, Zaitoon Colony,Daroghawala, Baghbanpura. He hadgone missing on January 10 last yearalong with his friend Ali Jamshed.

An inquiry into the incident wasinitiated by both police and CivilAviation authorities, however nei-ther of the two enquiry reports weremade public. Prime Minister YousafRaza Gilani had also constituted athree-member committee, compris-ing of Civil Aviation Joint SecretaryArshad Farooq, Air CommodoreGulzar Janjua and Squadron LeaderMujahid. The said enquiry commit-tee briefed the prime minister that

the incident was a result of a securitylapse at the Allama Iqbal Interna-tional Airport as the boy was tryingto escape to Dubai by hiding himselfon the wheel of a plane.

Rumours kept appearing re-garding the recovery of Ali Jamshedand his arrest by the law enforce-ment agencies but neither policenor Civil Aviation officials con-firmed his recovery or arrest.

Investigations Wing Senior Su-perintendent of Police (SSP) AbdulRazzaq Cheema said that the Inves-tigations Wing had transferred thecase to Crime Investigation Agency(CIA) after making its efforts. How-ever, the missing boy could not berecovered. He added that AliJamshed’s family had stopped con-

tacting police which had slowed theinvestigation process. The SSP saidthat Ali’s family would be contactedin a few days to restart investiga-tions. He alleged that the Ministry ofDefence had not responded posi-tively to police requests to be pro-vided the ministry’s enquiry report.

Ali Jamshed’s family refused tocomment on the issue, saying thatthe authorities had stopped themfrom uttering a single word on thematter, while their neighbourstermed their attitude towards the in-cident suspicious.

Talking to Pakistan Today,Muhammad Siddique, the father ofthe deceased, said that the law en-forcement agencies had not providedthem with the facts behind the case.

54 CnG buses

to be added LAHORE

StAff RePoRt

With the addition of 54 new buses, 111international standard buses will be op-erational on different routes of Lahore,Busco Foton Chief Executive Joe Vergh-ese said addressing the management,workers and staff of the company onNew Year’s eve. He said Busco Fotonhas provided the best CNG buses in theworld specifically designed for the Pak-istan market, local, climatic condition,social norms and technical specifica-tions. He said the company will be ableto overcome all impediments in bus op-erations.. He said the contract betweenthe Punjab Government and Foton hadbeen executed due to the Chief Minis-ter’s support and cooperation from La-hore Transport Company. He said thebuses were providing environmentfriendly transport to Lahore. He hopedthat Punjab Government will resolve thestudents and CNG issues soon. He saidthe fare for AC buses was in accordancewith the approved and notified list is-sued by the government. He said thePunjab government’s urban transportreforms had allowed Busco to provideinternational standard buses in Lahore.

Follow Turkeys role model,CM tells officials

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shah-baz Sharif said on Friday that hisvisit to Turkey had been very suc-cessful and resulted not only inbringing the two countries closerbut also opened up new avenues ofcooperation in various sectors.

Presiding over the Turkishvisit debriefing meeting at theCM’s Secretariat, he said thatagreements have been signed withthe Turkish companies to developdifferent sectors in Punjab. He is-sued instructions to set up specialcommittees to implement theagreements.

Members Provincial Assembly,Lahore Transport Company chair-man, inspector general police,Planning & Development chair-man, Finance, Transport, Energy,Mineral, Housing and Educationdepartments’ secretaries, PunjabInvestment Board vice chairman,Lahore commissioner and districtcoordination officer, Punjab Infor-

mation Technology Board chair-man and other officials concernedwere also present at the meeting.

The CM said that the progressmade by Turkey was a role modelfor Pakistan. He said that agree-ments have been signed during hisvisit to Turkey for cooperation inbus rapid transit system, solidwaste management, security, edu-cation, energy and other sectors.He said he had told the Turks thatPakistan did not need aid but de-sired trade and cooperation.

Discussing the bus rapid tran-sit system agreement, the CM saidthat a survey should be conductedto extend the system toRawalpindi, Faisalabad and Mul-tan, on Lahore’s pattern. He saidthat talks were also been held withExim Bank for the financing of La-hore Ring Road, Southern Loopand other projects

He said further that talks hadbeen held with the Turkish energyminister for cooperation in thepower sector. He directed a teamcomprising the Energy, Mines &

Minerals secretary and others tovisit Turkey and explore the possi-bilities of cooperation in hydel andcoal power generation.

He appreciated the efficiencyof Turkish police and said that fullbenefit will be taken from its coop-eration and expertise for the capac-ity-building of Punjab police anddetailed discussions have beenheld in this regard. He said that thedepartments concerned shouldcomplete the preliminary workby January 15 for the speedy imple-mentation of the agreements.

Earlier, the Transport secre-tary informed the meeting aboutcooperation with Turkey in thebus rapid transit system and E-ticketing, the Lahore commis-sioner briefed about solid wastemanagement, additional IG Spe-cial Branch about security and co-operation in other sectors whilePunjab Information TechnologyBoard chairman briefed about theimplementation of the agreementregarding the establishment of anIT university.

g Police, CAA enquiry reports never made public g Police claim missing boy’s family not pursuing case

‘war to continue till outages continue’



Lahore

198 scouts to helpcontrol traffic

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

198 scouts from various colleges willassist the traffic police in controllingthe traffic during the rush hours.

This was stated on Friday by ChiefTraffic Officer (CTO) Syed AhmedMubeen while addressing a ‘trainingand awareness workshop’ for thescouts at a local college. He said thescouts would assist the police on 20 ofthe city’s roads on which 45 major ed-ucational institutions were situated.

Mubeen stated that the activitywould help to control the traffic duringthe opening and closing times of theinstitutions. He added that the scoutswould assist the wardens for half anhour before and after the institutionsopened and closed respectively. Heasked the citizen to park their vehiclesproperly to avoid inconveniencingother people. He directed the wardensto lift or fine the vehicles double-parked at markets or in front of the in-stitutions. fOUR ARRESTED fOR MURDERIng, SODOMISIngyOUTH: Sadar Investigation Police,on Friday, claimed to have arrestedfour persons accused of murdering anadolescent after sodomising him. A 14-years-old labourer was found dead aweek ago in a field near his workplace.

On day of the incident, the deceasedhad left his workshop to buy diesel onthe orders of his employer whenunidentified people kidnapped him.

He was later found dead. NawabTown police registered a case on thecomplaint of the deceased’s father

Maqbool Ahmad. The InvestigationPolice arrested four boys, Waqar,Imran, Mushtaq and Shahbaz acousin of deceased, who allegedlykilled the victim. BUSInESSMAn COMMITS SUI-CIDE: A businessman committed sui-cide in the Ghaziabad police precinctson Friday, by taking poisonous pillsafter he suffered a loss in his business.According to details, the deceasedSyed Abrar Hussain a resident of AzizPalli had settled in Muscat but re-turned to Pakistan after sufferingloses. He committed suicide after fail-ing to revive his business.STUDEnTS pROTEST RESCUE1122’S DELAyED ARRIvAL: Traf-fic flow remained suspended aroundthe Shahdra Town Degree College ascollege students protested against thelate arrival of the Rescue 1122 ambu-lance that led to an injured man’s deathon Friday.According to details, Mushtaq, apasserby, was injured by a speedingvehicle in Narang Mandi area. Localsbrought the injured to Rana Townfrom where they called Rescue 1122.However the ambulance did notreach Rana Town on time, causingMushtaq’s death. nO ARRESTS MADE InwApDA EMpLOyEE MURDER:The police on Friday had not identi-fied or arrested any accused of themurder of a WAPDA line superinten-dent. According to details, 35 year oldHafiz Makhdom, father of three chil-dren, was murdered late on Thursdayoutside his home in the Shadbagh po-lice precincts.

JI warns against

extending

support to uSLAHORE

StAff RePoRt

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) ameer MunawarHasan said that extending any supportto the US in the present situation wastantamount to nursing the snake andgiving protection to a cunning enemy.Addressing a large Friday congregationat the Mansoora mosque, the JI ameersaid that the entire nation had wel-comed the stoppage of NATO suppliesand the eviction of the US forces fromthe Shamsi airbase following the NATOattacks at the military posts. However,he said, there were indications that thisdecision was being reviewed.

Social Security doctors deprived of announced pay raise

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

The 1,800 doctors working in the Pun-jab Social Security Department havebeen deprived of the pay raise an-nounced by Chief Minister ShahbazSharif, despite a lapse of six months.The chief minister had announced a payraise of Rs 15,000 and 10,000 as healthprofessional allowance for the medicalofficers and consultants, while Rs 6,000and 20,000 pay raise was announced forthe house officers and post graduatetrainees. However, the bureaucracy ofthe Social Security Department has de-prived the doctors of their pay raise andis unwilling to implement the decisionof the CM in the social security healthinstitutions across Punjab. The generalbody meeting of the Punjab Social Secu-rity Doctors Association would be heldon January 14 (today) at the PakistanMedical Association (PMA) House, La-hore to finalise the line of action forprotest on the issue. A final strategy fora protest movement would be an-nounced after the meeting.

Pillion-riding banned near

chehlum processions,

congregations

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

The City District Government Lahorehas, under the Section 144 of the consti-tution, prohibited pillion-riding by menon motorcycles or scooters within one-kilometre radius of the processionroutes and congregation venues in theCity and Sadar Police Division of the La-hore District from Jan 14, 2012 to Jan15, 2012. The action has been taken inthe interest of public peace and securityin view of the forthcoming chehlum ofHazrat Imam Hussain (AS).

Gymkhana electsnew chairman today

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

Election campaigns continued in fullswing ahead of the polls to be held todayto elect the Lahore Gymkhana Clubchairman. The tow main contenders forthe post, Misba-ur-Rehman and formerfederal secretary Zia-ur-Rehman threwlavish dinners for the club’s 4800 per-manent members at different places out-side the club, as the election rulesrestricted them from holding election-related events on the club’s premises. 50percent of the club’s members cast votesto elect a 12-member management com-mittee who will then appoint a chairmanfrom amongst themselves. Misbah’smost prominent supporters includeMian Pervaiz Bhandara, Customs Col-lector Sumaira Nazeer and businessmanKhwaja Imran Zubair. Zia-ur-Rehman issupported by former interior secretaryTasneem Durrani, CM’s Principal Secre-tary Nadeem Hassan Asif, DIG Samiud-din and Major Javaid Nasrullah.

‘Officer, don’t you dare impound a lawyers’ car!’

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

CITY lawyers subjected an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) police to a beating,throwing both kicks and punches at thepolice offier, on Lahore High Court(LHC) premises when the ASU arrived to

appear before Justice Sheikh Ahmed Farooq in acase filed by a lawyer against him.

Maj (r) Syed Abass Advocate had filed a petitionin the Lahore High Court praying to the court to takeaction against anti-car lifting squad ASI Babar whostopped him on Motorway Toll plaza near Shadharaand impounded his car despite possessing completedocuments.

Justice Sheikh Ahmed Farooq summoned the ASIalong with the case record but the ASI could presenthimself to the court, a group of lawyers grabbed him

outside the court, beat him up and left him bruised andbattered as no one, neither neutral lawyers nor courtsecurity officials, intervened to save him from the bat-tering. The beating continued once the lawyers feltother police officers would be served an ample warning.

Expecting justice to be served at the court, when theASI came before Justice Farooq, the judge, instead ofreprimanding the lawyers who had taken law into theirown hands, asked the ASI, “Under what law did you im-

pounded the vehicle of an advocate?” The ASI responded that the number plate of Advo-

cate Abbas’s car was tampered with and it was im-pounded since the matter was suspicious and aninvestigation into the car’s registration and ownershipwas required. Syed Abbas Advocate said he had pur-chased the car from a private company through auctionand had possessed its documents.

Meanwhile, a group of senior lawyers informedJustice Farooq that Abbass and his friends had beatenup the ASI. However, the judge ignored the complaintand gave an order in favour of Syed Abass Advocate.The judge said the ASI had no powers to take the carinto custody and passing order for release of the cardisposed of the case. Later, other police officials presenton the court premises supported the ASI and termedthe court order an injustice. The police officers con-demned it and demanded that the LHC chief justice tostop the hooliganism by lawyers in the court.

g lawyer beats ASI at lHC premises, no one intervenes g lHC judge ignores aggression of lawyer, passes order in his favour

under what law did youimpounded the vehicle of an advocate?

JuStICe fARooq to ASI BABARlahore High Court

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

The Lahore High Court on Friday ad-journed till January 18 a petition chal-lenging the appointment of Prof DrMujahid Kamran as the Punjab Univer-sity acting vice chancellor after his re-tirement as VC on January 2.

Justice Sheikh Ahmad Farooqwas hearing the petition filed by DrMughees-ud-Din, a candidate for theslot of VC, who had impleaded theHigher Education Commission secre-tary, the principal secretary to the chiefminister and others as respondents.

During hearing of the case on Fri-day, PU Acting VC Dr Mujahid Kamranappeared before the court and sought

time to file his reply on the matter.The court, accepting his request,

adjourned the hearing till January18. The petitioner pleaded that DrMujahid Kamran’s contract had ex-pired on January 2, 2012 and lawdid not allow his extension in serviceor charge as acting VC of the varsity.The petitioner pleaded before thecourt to set aside the notificationthat allowed Dr Mujahid to continueas acting VC of the university.

The VC was appointed for a pe-riod of four years according to theSection 14 of the PU Act, the peti-tioner said, contending that neitheran extension could be granted tothe VC nor could he be allowed toserve as a stopgap arrangement.

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

The petition challenging the dismissal of GenNaeem Khalid Lodhi from the office of the de-fence secretary was fixed on Friday for hear-ing on January 16 before Lahore High CourtChief Justice Azmat Saeed. The court judicialregistrar, who checks maintainability of thepetitions before fixing before the judges, ad-mitted the matter and placed it before thebench of the chief justice for proceedings.

The petition was filed by Muhammad AzharSiddique advocate, Chairman of a public interestlitigation company Mohammad & Ahmad, praying

to court to restore the defence secretary in his officeand restrain Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi fromkeeping additional charge of the defence secre-tary’s post. The petitioner stated that Prime Min-ister Yousaf Raza Gilani had sacked Lodhi onaccount of acting illegally and violating the busi-ness rules. He stated that the removal of Lodhiwas based on malafidies and an attempt to createconfrontation between the state institutions.

He stated that Lodhi was removed withoutgiving any show cause notice and without provid-ing him an opportunity to defend himself, addingthat the issuance of a show cause notice to anygovernment employee was mandatory and thegovernment did not fulfill the legal formalities.

lHC CJ to hear plea againstdefence secretary’s dismissal

lHC gives time to acting Pu VC for reply

Public SafeTy rOuNd-uP

g Four arrested for murdering, sodomising youthg Muscat-returnee businessman commits suicide


low

High

090CSunDAy MonDAy TuESDAy14°C I 10°C 15°C I 10°C 16°C I 08°C

PrAyEr TIMInGSFajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

05:37 07:02 12:12 15:01 17:20 18:46

CITy DIrECTory

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PolICE 15

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BlooD BAnK

FATMID 35210834-8

ISlAMIC AllIAnCE 37588649/37535435

CoMPlAInT

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CollEGES / unIVErSITIES

PunJAB unIVErSITy 99231257KInnAIrD CollEGE 99203781-4quEEn MAry CollEGE 36362942GoVT. CollEGE unIVErSITy 111-000-010uMT 35212801-10luMS 35608000uET 36288666lCwu 99203072SuPErIor CollEGE 111-000-078

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ADIl (DEFEnCE) 36667275

CHIlDrEn’S 99230901-3

DEFEnCE nATIonAl HoSPITAl 111-17-18-19

dOcuMeNTary MaKiNG cOurSe

DATE: JAn 30,2012VEnuE: lAwrEnCE GArDEn

Be a successful documentary maker and learn theart from the media professionals including oryaMaqbool Jan.

TheSiS diSPlay, 2012

DATE: JAn 16 To 20VEnuE: nATIonAl CollEGE oF ArTS (nCA)

All bachelors’ classes of nCA including architecture,textile, miniature paintings, sculpture, interior designand others to show their final thesis in anexhibition

PArTly ClouDy

wEATHEr uPDATES

16°C

08Friday, 13 January, 2012

Lahore

arabic calliGraPhy

CAllIGrAPHy ClASSES are on-going, interestedstudents can enroll throughout the year. Theduration of one module is three months. There arefour modules of learning calligraphyt: primary,secondary, advanced and higher. The course includestraditional pen and traditional paper making.

DATE AnD TIME: JunE 1, 2012, 4PM To 6PMVEnuE: HAST-o-nEEST CEnTEr

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

pUNJAB Chief Minister MohammadShahbaz Sharif inaugurated the 968thUrs celebrations of Syed Ali BinUsman, popularly known as HazratData Gunj Baksh Ali Hajveri (RA) by

laying a wreath at the shrine. Special prayers are offered on the occasion

for the solidarity, progress and prosperity of thecountry. The Chief Minister also inaugurated asabeel of milk which will continue throughoutthe three days of the Urs.

Every year a large number of devotees visit theshrine during the Urs to offer prayers to what isconsidered the city’s patron saint.

Taking the high attendance into considera-tion, law enforcement agencies were placed onhigh alert to provide security for the mosques andthe Imam Bargah.

Security personnel were stationed at the en-trance and exit points of the city to check the ve-

hicles passing through. The city’s police stations also set up

check points. The mosque and imam bar-gah were cordoned off by the police. Metaldetectors, walk through gates and CCTV cam-eras were also installed.

A larger number of police officials, includingsharpshooters were deployed and sensitive build-ings and surrounding areas placed on red alert.

Capital City Police Officer Amed RazaTahir requested the people to keep on the lookout for suspicious people or packages and toinform the police if they see anything out ofthe ordinary.

Auqaf Provincial Minister Haji EhsanuddinQureshi, Religious Affairs Committee Data DarbarChairman Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Mem-ber National Assembly Khawaja Bilal Yasin,members of the Provincial Assembly, Auqafsecretary, Lahore commissioner anddistrict coordination officer and sen-ior administrative officers werepresent at the occasion.

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

Mujahid Barailvi launched his book ‘JalibJalib’, the third edition of his work on therenowned revolutionary poet Habib Jalib, atthe Alhamra Art Council on Friday.

The book launching ceremony was at-tended by several notable personalities, in-cluding Aitezaz Ahsan, Asma Jahangir, IARehman, Qayyum Nizami, Mustafa QuraishiFarooq Tariq, Babaer Najmi, Faryal Gohar,Munno Bhai, Abid Hasan Manto and Mush-taq Lashari.

Speaking at the occasion, MujahidBarailvi said that Habib Jalib’s work wastimeless in the world of poetry. He main-tained that Jalib was a foresighted poet, whohad stood against dictatorship always and

never compromised on democracy. Jalib’swork boosted the morale of the nation, givingthem the courage to fight against feudalism

and dictatorship, he added.The book “Jalib Jalib” is a compilation of

the poems of Habib Jalib, along with the con-textual background of the verses. The bookcontains short incidents of Jalib’s life and theperceived inspirations of the poet, which hadpersuaded him to create his timeless verses.

Earlier editions of the book have beenwidely appreciated by the readers. AyeshaNazir, who had read the earlier editions, saidthat the book grasped the attention of thereader immediately. “I have read the earliereditions of the book. They were a great readbut I have the honour of having read thisnewly launched book and I think that this iseven better than the previous ones,” she said.

The launching ceremony concluded withthe writer signing the copies of the book forthe people.

devotees gather for data GunjBaksh’s Urs amid tight security

Remembering the poet that stood against dictatorship g Mujahid Barailvi launches his book ‘Jalib Jalib’ on the context of Jalib’s poetry



News

Despite heavy odds stacked against thePakistan People’s Party (PPP) govern-ment, it is all set to complete its term andeven announce the future election sched-ule, showing a strong penchant to wriggleout of even the gravest crises of the kind itfaced more recently from a hostile judici-ary and powerful military.

Already the month of March does notlook that difficult for the PPP anymore.The recent confrontation between the gov-ernment and judiciary on the one handand government and military leadershiphitting the country like a real thunder-storm created a huge psychological impactthat would have sobering effects on all

stakeholders and would allow the govern-ment elbow room to come out of it un-harmed.

But more importantly, the politicalmindset is changing and focus of politicalleadership has shifted from disruptive pol-itics aimed at dislodging the present gov-ernment to Senate polls and early generalelections, which are positive signs for thecountry and even the PPP government sodiscredited, if we lend ears to the TV chan-nels.

It seems the country is heading forelection season sooner rather than laterwith all the doomsday scenarios for the in-cumbents taking a back seat.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N), the main opposition party rightnow, seems to be out of sorts after the fastchanging and dramatic political develop-ments, lacking both vision and support at

national level from other political forces toforce any political change or match the so-phisticated moves made by the PPP on thepolitical chessboard.

It has already backtracked from its ex-treme positions it adopted more recently.At one time not very long ago, it wasaverse to holding Senate elections and wasthinking in terms of resigning from assem-blies to rob the PPP of getting any advan-tage in the Senate polls. But now, giving into the political compulsions, it did not talkagainst the Senate election as it used to.Other political parties too have no grudgeagainst Senate polls.

Nawaz Sharif would like now to seeSenate elections taking place on scheduleas it would deprive its archrival the Pak-istan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) of any repre-sentation in the Upper House and so goingahead with the Senate polls is good for

him. As such the emerging scenario is notthat bad for the PPP.

The PPP government would be morethan happy to announce early elections aspart of any political deal with other enti-ties or otherwise. But early elections donot mean they are being held tomorrow.They would be held, at the earliest, by thelast quarter of this year. This allows thePPP to present the fifth consecutivebudget in the country and another chanceto make amends for the lapses it commit-ted before in order to improve the imageof its government and Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani to earn the distinctionof the first civilian prime minister to pres-ent the fifth consecutive budget in Pak-istan. Good for him.

As such it is a win-win situation for thePPP and its allies. The PPP governmentwould be ready to hold elections as being

demanded by the opposition; free and fairthrough an independent election commis-sion.

Meanwhile, threats once faced by thePPP and played up by the media includinglong marches, agitation movements by theopposition or resignation from assemblieshave receded with the changing politicalmoves. Nor is the political leadership will-ing to accept any adventurism involvingthe military. The military top brass, in-cluding the army chief and most of hisgenerals, are in favour of not destablisingthe present setup. Efforts are afoot involv-ing some intermediaries to patch up be-tween the government and militaryleadership to protect the PPP’s long-terminterests in politics.

The PPP in the latest turnaround willnot like to take its fight with the judiciarytoo far.

Doomsday scenarios for PPP taking back seat

CoMMEnTNADeeM SYeD

g March does not seem that difficult for the PPP anymore


THE National Assembly wasinformed on Friday thatthe government was goingto replace the aging fleet ofPakistan International Air-

lines (PIA) with new aircraft to makeit a profitable entity and provide bet-ter traveling facilities to passengers.

Responding to a calling attentionnotice moved by PML-N MNA NuzhatSadiq and others, Minister for De-fence Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar saidof 39 aircraft, 32 were functional,while seven had beengrounded due to vari-ous reasons.

He said PIA wastrying to get nine air-craft on lease in accor-dance with PublicProcurement RegulatoryAgency (PPRA) rules. Hesaid most of the PIA aircraftwere past their useful lifeand the ministry was planning toget new aircraft on lease to keep PIAfunctional.

Asked why two aircraft gotten onlease were banned by Saudi authori-ties, the minister said during the Hajoperations, PIA acquired two aircrafton wet-lease basis and earned fivemillion dollars for transporting pil-grims from Burma. However, he didnot clarify why Saudi authorities hadbanned those two aircraft.

To another question, the ministeradmitted failure of the management tocheck theft of aircraft spare parts andsaid efforts were being made to con-trol the theft.

He said by leasing the aircraft, thetheft chances had been reduced.

Mukhtar said leased planes hadtheir own crew which

further de-

creased losses. As the minister couldnot properly respond most of thequestions, Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirzadirected the ill-prepared defence min-ister to give a detailed briefing to theHouse the next day.

Meanwhile, Minister for ReligiousAffairs Syed Khursheed Shah tabledbefore the House the career structurefor health personnel bill, 2012.

The bill aims at regulating the ap-pointment and the terms and condi-tions of service of health personnelserving in the federal health institu-tions of the government.

The minister also laid before theHouse the annual report of Competi-tion Commission of Pakistan for thefinancial year ending June30, 2010.

Govt planning to buy newplanes to make PIA profitable

Haqqani wants action

against Akram

ISLAMABADAPP

Former Pakistan ambassador to the USHussain Haqqani on Friday moved anapplication before the judicial commissionprobing the memo issue, seeking actionagainst Akram Sheikh, counsel for MansoorIjaz, for attributing false statements to him.Haqqani, through his counsel Syed ZahidHussain Bokhari, requested thecommission to restrict Sheikh fromattributing false, incorrect and provocativestatements about the applicant in theinterest of justice. He also requested thatthe commission might kindly take notice oraction of this matter by passing anappropriate order. Enumerating reasons,he said on January 9, Sheikh told theelectronic media that he had hurled threatsat his client. The news reports were alsocarried by a number of newspapers. He saidsuch fallacious and fabricated claimscarried no weight and were malafide.

legislationto controlIEDs soon


The government would soon introduce alaw to counter and control improvisedexplosive devices (IEDS) and has soughtinputs from all the provinces and otherstake holders in this regard. The interiorminister on Friday chaired a high-levelmeeting at the Ministry of Interior inwhich progress was reviewed regardingstrategy for implementation of executivepolicy for curbing IEDs by all provincesand stakeholders. The meeting wasattended by high ranking officials offederal as well as provincial governments,including representatives of all lawenforcement agencies. The minister askedthe participants to offer their input in theproposed legislation to be enacted shortlythrough a bill named “Counter andControl of Improvised Explosive Devices(IEDS) Bill, 2012” to be drafted by theMinistry of Interior. The draft bill wouldbe circulated to all provinces fordeliberations. He directed the CivilDefence DG to take the draft bill toprovincial governments of Punjab andSindh for discussion with chief secretaries,home secretaries and IGPs. Similarly, hedirected law joint secretary at the InteriorMinistry to take similar action in KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. Both officers have been directedto submit their joint report after which thesame would be promulgated. The ministeralso directed the interior secretary to forma committee under the chairmanship ofNational Police Bureau director generalfor revision and modification of Blue Bookaccording to the new challenges and newsecurity trends, so that the outdated BlueBook could be revised according to theneed of the hour.

AJK Assembly

shows support for

president, PMMUZAFFARABAD

INP

The Azad Jammu and KashmirLegislative Assembly on Friday passed aresolution in favour of Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani and President Asif AliZardari. The resolution was submitted bysome members of the treasury benches inthe assembly session. The resolutionpraised the efforts of the PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP)-led government forthe Kashmir cause at national andinternational levels according to theUnited Nations resolutions andaspirations of the Kashmiri people. Theresolution said that the Kashmir issuewas attracting the attention of theinternational community because of thedemocratic government in Pakistan.

MuzzAfARABAD: Local residents cross River Jhelum using a wooden lift on friday. inP



News

PESHAWAR StAff RePoRt

KHYBER PakhtunkhwaChief Minister Amir HaiderKhan Hoti said on Fridayterrorists targeting policeand security forces would

not affect their commitment but wouldfurther boost their resolve.

He told reporters after offering fu-neral prayers for two police personnelat the Malik Saad Shaheed Police Linesthat further effective actions would betaken against groups involved in ter-rorist activities.

The police personnel were killed ina militant attack on a police post onThursday. A vibrant contingent of po-lice presented the guard of honourwhile the chief minister, along withother notable personalities, laid floralwreaths on the coffins of the slain po-

licemen and offered condolences totheir families The CM said the govern-ment and the people of KhyberPakhtunkhwa would not overlook thesacrifices of the martyrs. Respondingto media queries, the chief ministercondemned the incident in strongwords and expressed grief over the lossof precious lives. He said some of thehideouts of terrorists had been de-stroyed in a joint operation of policeand Frontier Corps (FC) and the ter-rorists had targeted the police post lastnight in retaliation, adding that the po-lice and FC personnel fought bravely.

He said one FC and two police per-sonnel lost their lives, while seven ter-rorists were killed, including twoskilled commanders. He said this inci-dent depicted that police and securityforces were fully active in counteract-ing terrorists, but regretted that thepeople were kidnapped and deprived of

their weapons earlier in such incidents. He said terrorist attacks on FC and

police were aimed at weakening theirspirits, but such evil agendas would failand the police and FC’s morale wouldonly be boosted.

Provincial Assembly Member Kara-matullah Chagarmatti, Senior Provin-cial Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour,Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastageer, In-spector General of Police Akbar KhanHoti, police officials and relatives ofthe deceased also participated in thefuneral prayers. Later, giving financialassistance cheques to the young chil-dren of former Awami National Party(ANP) Bannu president MuhammadIsrael Khan Shaheed and formerBannu District Zakat Committee chair-man Atta ur Rahamn Khan Shaheed,Hoti said the role and sacrifices of ANPworkers in the struggle eliminate ter-rorism were secret to none.

TIMERGARAStAff RePoRt

Officials of United Nation High Commis-sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Fridayannounced to repatriate Afghan refugeesresiding in four different camps at LowerDir during the ongoing calendar year.

Though the UNHCR officials are yetto chalk out a schedule for voluntary repa-triation of Afghan refugees, the processusually starts in March and continuesuntil October and November.

However, the UNHCR officials havemade it clear that they were determined

to vacate Lower Dir by December 31 2012.So far the UNHCR established a registra-tion centre, Volunteer Center for Repatri-ation (VCR), at Khiaima area of LowerDir, which was formally inaugurated bythe UNHCR and Afghan Refugees Com-missioner on Friday. Besides others,UNHCR Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chiefAhmad, Commissioner Afghan RefugeesZaheerul Islam, operational commanderColonel Kamran Aslam, Dir Lower DCOMahmood Aslam and district administra-tor Afghan Commissionerate SahibzadaBiradar Jan were present on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering, the

UNHCR provincial head praised Pakistanand Sudan for hosting Afghan refugeesfor more than 30 years. He said both Is-lamic states had rendered great sacrificesfor refugees. He said the Afghan refugeeshad to complete repatriation to theirhomeland by December, 2012. “The gov-ernment of Pakistan will no more be re-sponsible for them after the due date,” hesaid, asking the refugees to make prepa-rations for their voluntary repatriation toAfghanistan. He said townships had beenset up in nine Afghan provinces where re-habilitation of the refugees would be car-ried out. About opening of the office at

Timergara, the UNHCR head said itaimed to facilitate and asses refugees foreasy and dignified return to their home-land. He urged the Afghan refugees tostrictly follow the directives of the govern-ment of Pakistan about their repatriation.“Go to your own home and play an activerole in developing your country,Afghanistan,” he said, adding that whatPakistan did for them was appreciable.

Ahmad appealed to the governmentof Pakistan and concerned authorities tokeep open the Pak-Afghan border forrefugees returning to Afghanistan so thatthey could easily go to their homeland.

UnHCR to complete Afghan refugees’ repatriation by Dec end

PeShAWAR: the driver of this vehicle apparently failed to determine the distance of the edge of the road while parking his

vehicle near the central jail on friday. TARiQ Aziz

PESHAWARStAff RePoRt

Leaders of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) onFriday remained mum over the assassina-tion of 15 soldiers of Frontier Constabularyand influence of thousands of local and for-eign militants while addressing a well-at-tended public gathering in Mirali, thesecond largest town in North WaziristanAgency.

The JUI-F arranged the rally in Miralifor commemorating the services of latetribal MNA Maulana Mohammad Deen-dar, who breathed his last a couple ofmonths ago.

Deendar remained MNA in 1993 andwas the first amongst tribesmen who

backed the emergence of the Taliban andbanned Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi.

He was in contact with al Qaeda fugi-tives and arranged the marriage of hisgrand daughter with an Arab national.

The JUI-F conference was addressedamong others by party’s provincial chiefSheikh Aman Ullah, Maulana AtaurRehman, Mufti Kifayat Ullah and MuftiAbdul Shakoor.

Former chief minister Akram KhanDurrani and Maulana Gul Nasib Khan wereunable to address the gathering.

Almost all JUI-F leaders focused theirspeeches on what they called “wrong poli-cies of present government, particularly inthe war on terror”.

Such policies, they claimed, aimed at“getting the blessing of the US and its al-lies”.

They said military action was leadingto the killing of innocent people and onsuch grounds, they demanded an immedi-ate halt to the offensive against the Talibanmilitants across the Tribal Areas.

But at the same time, the JUI-F leadersremained silent over the establishment of“a state with in a state” by the militants inWaziristan.

They time and again used the words“mujahideen” and “jihad” for all those whoare killing innocent personnel of the secu-rity forces and blowing up schools acrossKhyber Pakhtunkhwa in the name of “jihadagainst the US”.

Mufti Kifayat Ullah, who is an MPAfrom Mansehra, said, “Everyone is talkingabout democracy, constitutions and insti-tutions but no one realises his responsibil-ity towards Quran and Sunna.”

He said only the JUI-F was sincere tothe Islamic cause.

During the rally, JUI-F leaders de-nounced the US presence, particularly itsdrone operations in Waziristan region, withthe audience endorsing the condemnationwith raised arms and loud sloganeering.

The JUI-F urged the government toforce the US to halt drone attacks.

Likewise, they also asked for continua-tion of sanctions against US-led alliedtroops in Afghanistan, especially the ban onsupplies.

JUi-F stops short of condemning Taliban

no Australian

uranium for

Pakistan: GillardSYDNEY

INP

Australian Prime Minister JuliaGillard has reiterated that Australiawill not agree to export uranium toPakistan, which is imploring Canberrato make a similar policy change asdone recently for India.“This policy is an exception whichrecognises the compelling rationaleand national interest for a change inrelation to India only,” Indian newsagency IANS quoted Gillard as saying.“In the case of Pakistan, the issue doesnot arise as it does not have anexemption from the Nuclear SuppliersGroup,” she said. Gillard also indicated that the UnitedStates might have played a significantrole in Australia overturning the banon the sale of nuclear fuel to India.“Not selling uranium to India madesense when it was part of a widely-supported international strategy tobring New Delhi into the NuclearNon-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),” shesaid in answer to a question about theprimary reason behind the lifting ofthe ban. “But the US-India civilnuclear agreement of 2007 changedthat strategy,” Gillard added. Against that background, it made littlesense for Australia to stand alone as acountry that would not considernuclear trade with India, she said.

India to prosecute

Google, FacebookNEW DELHI

AfP

India’s government authorised on Fridaythe prosecution of 21 Internet firmsincluding Facebook and Google in a caseover obscene content posted online, twosources told AFP. The approval couldlead to company directors being called toa trial court in New Delhi to answerserious charges such as fomentingreligious hatred and spreading socialdiscord, an official and a lawyer said. Acriminal case against the companies wasfirst brought by journalist Vinay Rai whocomplained that the websites wereresponsible for obscene and offensivematerial posted by users.

Khattak blames

PMl-n, AnP, JuI-F

for Pakhtun woesKARAK

StAff RePoRt

Former Intelligence Bureau (IB) directorgeneral Masood Sharif Khan Khattak saidon Friday that the Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz, the Awami National Party(ANP) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazlwere the political parties that had sold theblood of Pakhtuns and held themresponsible of the disappointments of thePakhtun people. Addressing a big publicmeeting at Khurram, he urged the Khattaktribe to help him get the rights of the tribe.He said the ANP leadership could not evenarrange a public gathering on its soil andquestioned how it could serve the people.He said the oil and gas companies workingon the soil of Karak district were onlyextracting the natural wealth of the districtand in return spending nothing on thewelfare of the people, which was a failureof the elected representatives.

JI condemns recent

drone attacksISLAMABAD

StAff RePoRt

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader SenatorKhurshid Ahmad on Friday condemnedin strongest terms two recent dronestrikes on Pakistani soil by the UnitedStates, saying the attacks had killed manyinnocent people. In a press release, hesaid that after a silence of six weeks theUS had once again started its aggressiveviolation of Pakistan’s sovereignty andterritorial integrity. He said theparliament had repeatedly demanded thegovernment to take effective steps toprotect Pakistan’s air space and itspeople. The senator said the militaryleadership had issued a clear messageagainst further aggression after theNATO attack on Pakistani border postson November 26. “The nation asks thepolitical and military leadership whatsteps they are going to take to resist theseshameful attacks on Pakistan,” he said.

‘Terrorists can’t demoralise forces’

LoWeR DIR: Afghan Refugees Commissioner for

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khwaja zahoorul Islam

Balambat inaugurates the VRC office in timergara.


Editor’s mail 11Saturday, 14 January, 2012

revive the nameOf late, there has been a discussion

going on in various newspapers in whichthe readers have dissented over chang-ing street names. I tend to back theviews of the writers.

The names of streets, neigbourhoodsand cities carry historical background,thus the people over period of time growemotional attachment with them. There-fore, changing old street or towns namesshould be avoided. However, new townscan be built to name them for the re-quired purpose.

We can observe in the recent pastworld famous cities like Leningrad,Peking, Bombay, Rangoon, Madras, Cul-catta, have been restored to their oldnames. In our country the province ofNWFP has been renamed as KhyberPakhtunkhwa, in accordance with thewishes of the people.

In this perspective, I would suggestthe old Karachi street Bunder Road mayalso be restored too. Bunder is a word ofSindhi dialect which represents port.During colonial days, Karachi city wascarefully designed with a major longroad having shops at designated places.The road finally would terminate at theport location called Keemari.

After death of the founder of the na-tion, Bunder road was renamed as M AJinnah Road. I presume had this namebeen changed in the life time of Jinnahsaheb, he would have surely not allowedit because of its historical importance.

I have great regard for the father ofour nation and I have no intention ofcreating any controversy. However, aproposal could be worked out by whichthe road from Sohrab Goth to Old Nu-maish may be renamed as M A JinnahRoad.

Likewise, the road from Old Nu-maish to Keemari may be retained withits famous old name which was BunderRoad. Many old people I have met inSingapore, Hongkong, Manila, KualaLumpur, New York, still remember withgreat affection the most famous Karachistreet widely known as Bunder Road,which is no more there.

I expect our seasoned civil societyhas the capacity to discuss such issues toreach at logical solutions without gettingcarried away by sentiments.

A PAKISTANIKarachi

A ray of lightIn Pakistan, the general public per-

ception is that women are treated un-fairly in our society. But while mostPakistani women are victims of in-equality, abuse and threats, I believethere is a ray of light that often goes un-noticed.

In my experiences, many middle-to-upper class women in Pakistan are deli-cately handled – like valuable, glassobjects. They are respected at least out-wardly and even allowed to disgracemen in public for initiating eye contact.Women are not treated equally politi-cally, socially and elsewhere.

SABEEN IMANLahore

The other argumentA lot of talk is going around these

days on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).So many people are criticising PTI’sChief Imran Khan’s talk of change butkeeping old faces in his party. People arealso saying that these politicians havechanged quite a few political parties al-ready and now being with Imran Khan,they cannot bring change.

But I disagree. To make it clear, letme quote an example. If the head of a se-curity guard sleeps when he is on hisduty, the security guard will also sleep ashe will think that his boss is asleep. But ifthe head is awake, then his junior willnever sleep as he will be afraid of hisboss.

The point is if the leader is credible,honest and hard working, then his teamor workers will also work and the leadercan monitor and inquire about the workof his workers anytime.

MUBASHIR MAHMOODKarachi

Strange demandThe video statements of Mr Altaf

Hussain, the chief of MQM, are very fas-cinating. I have been watching Mr Hus-sain's video statements since I was alittle kid. Since Mr Hussain and hisparty MQM have been in the oppositionmost of the time, I think they have for-gotten how to act when they are part ofthe government.

A recent video statement of Mr AltafHussain, where he is requesting the gov-ernment to allow new provinces seemedvery weird to me because Mr Altaf Hus-sain and MQM are part of the govern-ment and they are requesting thegovernment to do something.

Since Mr Altaf Hussain has been liv-ing in United Kingdom (he fears for hislife and would not return to his countryeven when MQM have formed a coali-tion government in Pakistan), was hemaking these requests to his own work-ers who are now employed in his gov-ernment?

SHAHRYAR KHAN BASEERPeshawar

Six ways to doomTuesday was a black day in the his-

tory of Pakistan. The premier arbiters ofthe country declared the person withmost responsibilities, irresponsible. Thistells a lot about the slow progress of thecountry. It also indicates the persistentattitude of Pakistani politicians towardsthe issues in Pakistan.

Pakistan was once seen as the AsianTiger as its economy was growing at a re-spectable pace. Traditionally, any com-parison with India was in the favour ofPakistan. Its economy, poverty situation,airline, army, and air force had alwaysbeen a step ahead than its archrivalneighbour. Pakistan was a well respectedcountry among the Muslim countries, butnow even the most loyal of friends likeSaudi Arabia and China see us with sus-picions.

There might be a never-ending list of

disappointments, but today the attitudeof judiciary and media, even with all theirfaults, show us a beacon of hope.

The judiciary has been immenselypatient with the ever-embarrassing atti-tude of the government. It has ignoredSC’s decision. Nonetheless, the judiciaryhas come out with another bold decision.It might be discouraging that the judici-ary has not taken any strict action againstthe prime minister and president for ig-noring the top court of the country. Yet, acareful look into this decision, a set of sixsuggestions, is in fact six ways to doomfor the government and the ruling party.

The decision includes a possibility ofdisqualifying the Prime Minister topressing charges against the responsiblepoliticians and bureaucrats. It hinted onthe likelihood of some harsh decisions tobe taken in future. Judiciary has been re-

ally impressive in avoiding the possibleconfrontation even at this hour. One ofthe six suggestions is to take the matterto Pakistani citizens. It shows the sincer-ity and devotion of judiciary to avoidconflict and still fulfil its duty of dispens-ing justice.

The suggestion of taking the decisionto public might not be the one mosttalked in the media, but it is the one thatmust be thought most seriously about. Ina civilised world this would be the casethat the populace would decide on suchimportant and serious matters. It is animportant phase in the history of thecountry; the public must get to play itsrole.

The country is facing problems fromhome-grown extremists to foreign pow-ers. Its economy is going down the slope,and there is a severe power problem.

There are important decisions that mustbe taken to frame a policy for the futureof the country. So, this decision of the SCis an important one and must not be ig-nored by the government this time.

The government’s track record criesout loud that the SC’s propositions aregoing to fall on deaf ears. At least five outof the six suggestions will be fatal to thepolitical career of some important lead-ers of the ruling party. Even if govern-ment takes the option of going to polls itwill not be able to secure a good positionin the next elections. The current sce-nario suggests that all of the six ways aregoing to put the Pakistan Peoples Partyin a hitch. It is a sure doom for the party.The situation has become so because ofconstant wrong steps taken by the party.

SULTAN MEHMOODLUMS, Lahore

Going where?The government is once again increasing the electricity

tariff. This is tantamount to giving the public a deadlyshock. This is the latest in a series of tariff increases thathave come one after the other in recent months. Indeed,there is a need to rationalise the electricity tariff but doingthis in one go is very hard on the suffering common man.

Sometimes I wonder if the government is even inter-ested in the welfare of the people or not as it seems with its

gross mismanagement, it is leading the public like somesacrificial animal about to be slaughtered.

The government would have found it easier to rallysupport while it is beleaguered if it had done something toimprove people’s day to day lives. But, it has failed to doso.

KAINAT FATIMALahore

Send your letters to:Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistanfax: +92-42-36298302E-mail: [email protected] Letters may be edited for length and clarity.It would be appreciated if letters were ad-dressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

Musharraf’s returnIn his jalsa on 8 January, Pervez

Musharraf has announced that he will re-turn to Karachi by the end of the month.It takes great courage to return to thecountry where people are already callingout for his blood. He himself said that therelative comforts one gets while livingabroad are not given up unless the re-wards on the other side are greater.Musharraf reiterated that he wants to re-turn to help his people and not for anypersonal gain.

He spoke out clearly against thecharges being levelled against him like

the Nawab Bugti case and Benazir’s as-sassination. It wasn’t only the urbanKarachiites who were present at the gath-ering. Participants came from Sukkur,Khairpur and other interior areas of thecountry showing their support.

Contesting elections from Chitralshows that he has the confidence in thesupport of the Northern regions. Hissupport for the province of Hazara isgoing to further increase his popularitythere. Ethnicity is one of the core sensi-tive issues of our population right now.The presence of Bengalis, perhaps themost discriminated minority, was spe-cially noted and it was wonderful to see

their presence at the rally.The APML rally is sure to invite com-

parison with the PTI jalsa. It is, however,important to note that there was consid-erable support of the newly formed party.At this point it is not important to notehow many people come out to support aparticular party but to appreciate the factthat at least people are coming out fortheir democratic right. The APML rallywas also a part of the democratic process.The party is headed by a man who couldprove to be the best choice as he is triedand tested.

MASOOMA IMRANKarachi

Change is in the air. The sixthoption given by the SupremeCourt judges in their judg-

ment on the non-implementationof the controversial National Rec-onciliation Ordnance (NRO) im-plies an interim governmentfollowed by elections. This is alsothe demand of the opposition par-ties, especially the biggest one –the PML(N). The government islooking at October after the Senateelections in March in which theyhope to win a majority. It’s a timeand space game – the governmentslowly gives up its space for ma-noeuvre to gain time while othersseek to deny it time as well asspace. Going by this the chancesare that the executive will obey theSupreme Court’s orders as a lastresort and at the last possibleminute. The furore will then diedown, at least on this issue. If this

does not happen then the other op-tions are always there.

Next is the so called ‘Mem-ogate affair’ on which the linesseem to have been drawn betweenthe government and the judiciaryand the government and the mili-tary. Two facts are important andneed to be borne in mind – theSupreme Court is on record ashaving said that it does not want toderail the system – meaningdemocracy – and that no unconsti-tutional step will be accepted im-plying that the past judicial coverto military coups is a thing of thepast. Secondly, the military hasstated that it has no intention ofintervening, implying that change,if any, should only come throughconstitutional means.

The memo has alreadyclaimed two victims – our ambas-sador to the US and the secretary

defence. It has alsoled to statementsfrom the governmentthat led to a generalperception of a civil military con-frontation that could lead on tofurther destabilising steps. So star-tling were the statements thatsome thought that the governmentactually wanted to be ousted pre-maturely to trigger the ‘martyrsyndrome’ because it was at a deadend in terms of options.

Fortunately, the response fromthe military in each case was meas-ured, deliberate and calibrated tocreate just the right effect. The re-sult has been follow-up statementsfrom the prime minister that havescaled down the situation and havereassured the nation. Much willnow depend on the end of the twotrails on which ‘Memogate’ is pro-ceeding – the parallel investiga-

tions by the judicialcommission and theparliamentary com-mittee. There may be

fireworks but already there aresane voices suggesting that thecountry and its institutions are farmore important than individualambitions.

The media, especially the USmedia and even official spokesper-sons, are implying that the militaryis behind the judiciary and isegging it on so as to undermine orbring down the government – a‘slow motion coup’ as one analystcalled it. The government is beingprojected as ‘besieged’ by the mili-tary and the judiciary and asper-sions are being cast on the judicialprocess in Pakistan. No one is say-ing what the military hopes to gainby such actions even if these suc-ceed. There is also nothing being

said as to why a judiciary that haswon its independence the hardway should now tarnish its imageby following dictates from the mil-itary.

The judiciary is also aware ofthe fact that its performance isunder international scrutiny. Themilitary is likely to remain withinconstitutional bounds but it willnot allow itself to be ridiculed oraccused of something that it is notdoing. It is also fighting a war thathas already cost it heavily in lives.The judiciary will proceed on thepath that it deems to be in the bestinterest of the country. The gov-ernment having asserted its su-premacy will move towardsbalance but more importantly willalso take steps to stem the tide thatan absence of governance and in-ternal security are creating.

The overarching demand is for

civilian supremacy over the mili-tary and a review of Pakistan’sstrategic direction in view of its de-clining resources. Both these stepsrequire carefully thought outstrategies but creative strategiesare not made by those lighting andputting out fires. For any signifi-cant strategy, the requirement iseconomic viability and internalstability. It’s time to pull ourselvesout of the morass of trivial pursuitsand orchestrate all institutions andpower to develop inner strength asa nation. The people must nowtake priority.

Spearhead Research is a pri-vate centre for research and consul-tancy on security, headed byJehangir Karamat. Spearheadanalyses are the result of a collabo-rative effort and not attributable toa single individual.

Resolving Pakistan's institutional conflict


Comment12Saturday, 14 January, 2012

Arif NizamiEditor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36298305-10 Fax: 042-36298302Karachi – Ph: 021-34330811-3 Fax: 021-34330900Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287414-6 Fax: 051-2287417

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: [email protected]

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

As flies to wanton boys....

on Saleem Shehzad

Those who believe that the mood of the court, morethan anything else, influences the decisions of thejudiciary, would infer a lot from the findings of thecommission that was set up to probe the murder of

slain journalist Saleem Shehzad. They would infer from thisthe verdict of the Abbottabad commission: another acquittalfor the powers that be? They would also infer from this theverdict of the court in the memo commission: guilty ascharged?

A flawed belief, one that is the province of gut feelings,unable to stand up to reason or scrutiny. Not demonstrablyaccurate either. If a fair commission, one that would havebeen to the intelligence agencies’ detractors’ liking, had beenset up and couldn’t find any dirt, they couldn’t have goneahead and created some. Yet the adeptness of the spooks toclean up after themselves and the widespread publicperception that they were, somehow, involved, made thecommission talk about the intelligence agencies in its report.Bring them under control, it said about the IB and the ISI.Was including the IB an attempt to lessen the sting? If it was,perhaps they could have thrown in the Special Branch as well.Or the irrigation department.

The case itself: Saleem Shehzad couldn’t have been asgood as he was at his beat and not attracted the ire of thenon-state actors and various “belligerents.” Thoseprotesting the findings of the commission cannot brushaway an independent splinter group of militants behind hisgruesome murder. The timing of his murder, however, rightbefore he was to publish an installment of his findings onthe attack on the Mehran naval base in Karachi, makes itharder to believe that.

The commission’s directive to the investigating authoritiesto go about their work without the fear of reprisals is merelysymbolic; we have been down this road many times before.

The aftermath of Shehzad’s murder, more than themurder itself, is depressing indeed for professional, feet-on-the-ground journalists in the country. If as prominent ajournalist as he could be killed off, with no clue about theculprits, what hope do those working for the local mediahave? What hope do the local correspondents in the districtsand tribal agencies have?

As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods,

They kill us for their sport

why defy the SC?

only rational course

The PPP must have realised by now that the MQM andPML(Q) had joined the coalition to share power andnot to support it in defying the powers that be.Sensing that the two might not be willing to support

it, the government had abandoned on Thursday the idea ofseeking a vote of confidence for Gilani from the NA. So far,only the ANP has offered full-blooded public backing to thegovernment. That Asfandyar also presented the resolution insupport of parliament, government and democracy on Fridaymakes one wonder if it was just a chance that Ch Shujaat orFarooq Sattar did not volunteer to do it. In the tripartitestandoff, the NA sitting has done little to alter the situation onthe ground.

The attorney general has rejected the government’s standregarding the legality of the statements by the COAS and DGISI. This would weaken the prime minister’s position on thedismissal of the defence secretary, an issue over whichreservations were reportedly expressed during Kayani’smeeting with the principal staff officers. While Kayani’sattendance at the defence committee of the cabinet wouldensure the continuation of dialogue with the military, there islittle likelihood of the gulf created among other things byGilani’s earlier remarks being reduced. Nawaz Sharif remainsdetermined to change the government at the earliest. There islittle possibility of the no confidence move getting anywherenear success as long as the MQM and PML(Q) continue tosupport the government. The next two steps Nawaz proposesto undertake are collective resignations regarding which hehas remained double-minded for long and a long marchwhich is an extra-constitutional measure as it is not visualisedin the basic law as a legitimate way of removing thegovernment. Moreover, it could set a dangerous precedent.

Under the circumstances, the best move that the PPP mayhope to rely on to complete its tenure is to change its attitudetowards the SC. The policy of defiance has to be abandoned.The government has to comply with all the court decisionseven if it does not agree with them. What is more, it has tofight the memo case with the help of a more competent legalteam.

life is unfair

The PPP-led coalition is in allkinds of trouble, some of its ownmaking. In a nutcracker situa-tion, it is facing the combinedwrath of the superior judiciary,

the military establishment and the opposi-tion. Whether acting in unison or not, thereis a lot of talk in the air about the imminentclash of institutions.

The PPP certainly feels that it is beingcornered in an effort to hound it out of of-fice. Although both the president and theprime minister exercising restraint are re-luctant to say it on record, they suspect anexus between the judiciary and the mili-tary with a helping hand from the opposi-tion led by Nawaz Sharif to engineer theirouster.

Endorsing the military’s viewpoint, theapex court in its detailed judgment hasgiven a novel justification for admitting themaintainability of Nawaz Sharif’s petition.The chief justice declaring the link between

sovereignty and citizens’ fun-damental rights as being obvi-ous, has added that, “once acountry’s sovereignty and in-dependence are compromised,the lives and dignity of the cit-izen cannot but be adverselyaffected.”

In a related development,the Supreme Court has de-clined to extend the February23 deadline for preparation ofnew electoral rolls. Whereasthe PPP is overtly keen to holdthe Senate elections on itswatch and has announcedMarch 2 as the election date,there are powerful forces thatwant to rob the ruling coali-tion of the luxury of a possiblemajority in the upper house.

The most interesting caseis that of the PML(N). It wantselections to take place as soonas possible and is willing to goan extra mile to destabiliseand isolate the government,forcing its hand to hold anearly election. The Sharifs, un-nerved by Imran Khan’s risingpopularity in their heartland,do not want to lend him timeto organise, find suitable can-didates and have elections

under fresh lists. The PTI stands to gainmore if elections are held on the basis offresh lists as its vote bank is the youngersegment of the population.

On the other hand, the PML(N) is alsowary of the military with which it has notenjoyed an amicable relationship of late.The military does not trust the Sharifs ei-ther. Its charge that the establishment ispropping up Imran has to be viewed in thiscontext. Paradoxically, it is the Imran khanfactor, which has forced the PML(N) to co-operate with the ubiquitous establishmentin the wider scheme of things to get rid ofthe Zardari-Gilani duo.

The PPP has consolidated its positionwith its allies albeit conditionally. Even if itwas contemplating sacking the COAS andthe ISI chief, its allied parties have made itclear that they will not support such a move.Also, if Nawaz tries to bring a no-confidencemotion against the parliament, the PPP’scoalition partners might not lend a helpinghand.

It has been suggested to PresidentZardari to call early elections immediatelyafter the Senate elections. Unless there ispackage deal on the Memogate scandal andthe NRO, the PPP is unlikely to call elec-tions.

A way out of the impasse could be thegovernment agreeing to write to the Swissauthorities to reopen the cases againstZardari as has been suggested by eminentPPP lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan. According tosome legal experts, the heavens will not fallif such a letter is written as he will continueto enjoy sovereign immunity being presi-dent. However, Zardari is still reluctant,saying that this would be tantamount to atrial of the grave of Benazir Bhutto which hewill not allow.

Although Gilani in his emotional butsomewhat measured address in the parlia-ment claimed that he did not need to take avote of confidence from the parliament,ANP chief Asfandyar Wali tabled a draftresolution immediately after his speech.The resolution while reiterating the need forall state institutions to work within their re-spective spheres talks about sovereigntylying with the parliament.

The prime minister has deferred thetabling of the resolution till Monday osten-sibly to seek a consensus with the opposi-tion. If the purpose of the resolution was tosend a message to the military, that has

been served. As leader of the opposition Nisar Ali

Khan knows well that it does not, however,change the ground realities. A similar reso-lution was passed by the parliament in Oc-tober 1999. Musharraf sacked Nawaz only afew days later

The meeting of the defence committeeof the cabinet (DCC) scheduled for today iscrucial. The very fact that it is taking placeis a positive development in the sense thatat least the military and civilian leadershipshave decided to bridge their trust deficit ina structured manner.

Previously, General Kayani absentedhimself from President Zardari’s dinner inhonour of the visiting Chinese vice premier.The military has taken the stance that theSupreme Court should judge Memogateand a meeting between the troika – thepresident, prime minister and the armychief – seems unlikely.

The military top brass has made astrategic decision not to intervene politi-cally. But issues like the Memogate andcomplying with the apex court’s order ondeclaring the NRO null and void cannot besimply wished away. Even if early electionsare called, these issues will keep on haunt-ing Zardari.

Hence, there is need for deep introspec-tion by the president to review his presentstrategy which is simply not working. Theprime minister in his speech to the parlia-ment claimed that the government does notwant to go as a martyr and simply wants tocomplete its term. The ground reality is thatthe PPP is facing a three-pronged attackand the noose around its neck is beingslowly but surely tightened.

The president’s legal eagle and loyalistBabar Awan facing double contemptcharges of the Supreme Court is not theright man for the job at hand i.e. to find away out of this legal and political labyrinth.Of course, the PPP – the largest and mostresilient national party of the country – hasbeen in power four times since its inception.Surely, it will bounce back again if forcedout of office.

President Zardari, a brave man indeed,is not overtly worried. But as his late wifeBenazir Bhutto who faced great adversityduring her political career used to say, toobad life is unfair.

The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today

Cracking this nutcracker

whiteLIeSBy Ess Aich

For feedback, comments, suggestions and, most importantly, tips, contact us at [email protected]

We hear that a star-stud-ded wedding of amedia mogul’s daugh-

ter in Dubai some two weeksback was a litmus test for celebsand Pakistan’s politicians, espe-cially the latter. PresidentMusharraf was the one that drewthe greatest crowd among“politicians” for that is the labelthat befits him most, now that hehas a political party of his veryown.

If this is the kind of warm re-sponse he gets at public gather-ings then his belief and regularstatements that he is “popular inPakistan” are quite understand-able. The fanfare at Dubai mayjust have contributed to hisdream of landing in Pakistan tobe greeted by a sea of bannersand waving arms. In stark con-trast, former PM Shaukat Aziz cut a lonely figure with no one ap-proaching him for an opinion or a one-liner and that perhaps is

why he stakes no claim to being a grassroots politician. As forMusharraf, we wait and see.

By Arif Nizami

When the info minister Ms FirdausAshiq Awan made her move with

tears and put the PM’s favourite mandarinin her place, she did tell a few that she waspeaked with a Gang of Four conspiringagainst her.

It included, we were told, a female bu-reaucrat. Ms Awan may have won thatround with tears but it seems the otherlady is back with a bang and this time it isanother khaki bureaucrat who sits nursinghis wounds.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Being behind bars can be a life changingexperience as most people have found

but sometimes being restricted to an eight-star residence with all perks and no billscan also get to you. When HussainHaqqani, previously our man in Washing-ton or as some unjustifiably claimed ‘their’man in the Pakistan Embassy, first cameto Pakistan to appear before the SupremeCourt in the memo case, he was heard say-ing loud and clear that he was ever willingto “live and die” for Pakistan.

A few days of confinement in the PM

House and the man was being rescued byhis advocate and the judiciary. More daysand HH was heard issuing statements that“he could be killed if he came out of the PMhouse”. More weeks and it is a total changeof heart. HH has now applied to be allowedto go out of the country. Obviously, ourman in Washington is not willing to live inthis country for fear that he may actuallydie here as his book Between the Mosqueand Military did not endear him to themilitants. One can only say to the PMHouse: Please release the prisoner.


Comment 13Saturday, 14 January, 2012

The scenario is movingstep by step towardsthe pre-determined de-

nouement. This time the mil-itary will not step in directly.The government hawks havedamaged its case in the SC sobadly that there is a likeli-hood of the apex court deliv-ering the coup de grace,beginning with Gilani andthen moving towards Zardari.The army will then gladlyoffer its help to execute thedecision, if so desired by thecourts. After all, this is what itis required to do under theconstitution. Had the govern-ment not dug in its heels onthe issue of the implementa-tion of the NRO verdict, defy-ing the court on the unusualground that it amounted tothe trial of Benazir’s grave,things might have been dif-ferent, at least in the crucialNRO implementation case.

The memo case was builtup by those working from thesidelines. After all, the DG ISIdid not do all that runningaround from Islamabad andLondon for nothing. On theface of it, there is little in thecase but even if the govern-ment is finally exonerated, itwould emerge out of the legalbattle badly battered andbruised. A section of themedia has already taken thecomplicity of Zardari in whatit describes as treason forgranted. Whatever the court’sdecision, enough propagandahas already been conductedagainst the PPP governmentcosting it popularity.

Those working from thesidelines have yet anotherplan up their sleeve if thelegal scheme does not work.That PML(Q) and MQM havegradually started distancingthemselves from the govern-ment indicates that this plan

being simultaneously un-folded. At a wink from themasterminds, the two partieswould renounce the alliancewith the PPP, ensuring thefall of the government. Thiscould even coincide withNawaz Sharif’s no confidencemove which would be de-scribed as a happy coinci-dence.

The army in this countryhas never tolerated a civiliangovernment for long. Agen-cies which are adept at politi-cal engineering are set inmotion. In the 90’s, it allstarted with a whisperingcampaign which was followedby newspaper plants. Thegovernment in power, it wassuggested, was either thor-oughly corrupt or some of itsministers were working forRAW, of course with theblessings of the prime minis-ter. Then came the blow, nor-mally from the president whoused to be an administra-tion’s man. The governmentwas sent home without com-pleting its tenure.

The only civilian primeminister acceptable to thearmy has to be like ShaukatAziz. Under the system de-vised by Musharraf, the chiefexecutive and ministers en-joyed all perks and privilegesand were free to mint moneyin any way they liked. Theyhad absolutely no say in theformulation of policies whichwas the sole privilege of thepresident in uniform and hisunelected advisors.

The system suited thearmy. It gave it a free hand toformulate internal or externalpolicies without being heldaccountable for any possiblelapses and failure. The blamecould always be shifted to thecivilian dummies. No gen-uinely elected governmentcan allow this sort of arrange-ment. Conflict can at best bedelayed but is inevitable.

Turkey with a long his-tory of military dominationhas over a decade managed toput the army under civiliancontrol. The example indi-cates that political parties inother military dominatedcountries too can perform thefeat. Prime Minister Erdo-gan’s government managed

to do this because of its un-paralleled political and eco-nomic performance. It hasraised the image of the coun-try with a foreign policy basedon friendliness with neigh-bours and trade with all. Thegovernment’s image rose fur-ther after it firmly opposedIsraeli atrocities and reducedthe level of its diplomatic tieswith Israel. Its biggestachievement was putting theeconomy back on track,something that the militaryrulers and the army domi-nated civilian governmentshad failed to do over manydecades. With an 87 percentturnout at elections, and themassive public support in thereferendum, the party is in aposition to take several gener-als to court for plottingagainst it.

The PPP leadershipstarted with a tragic flaw: mil-lions of illegal dollars piled upin Swiss banks. Its leaderssimply forgot that in Pakistanonly those in uniform cankeep the kickbacks from de-fence and other such deals.The politicians do not havethat privilege. The PPP lead-ership wants to keep themoney and complete thetenure which has brought itinto a confrontation with thecourts.

The PPP was keen to re-tain the Dogar Court becausea pliant judiciary alone couldhave saved it from legal chal-lenges. The refusal to restorethe independent judiciary ledthe PML(N) to part companywith the alliance. To maintainitself in power, the PPP had tobring in the MQM andPML(Q). This led to the in-duction of a super large cabi-net and promoted corruptionand bad governance. It alsomade the PPP unpopular inits stronghold of Sindh. ThePPP failed to realise that nei-ther of the two allies wouldstand by it in case of con-frontation with the army andjudiciary. What one sees hap-pening is that the chickensare now coming home toroost.

The writer is a formeracademic and a politicalanalyst.

The drift of things ever since the PPP-led gov-ernment took over had always pointed in onedirection: disaster, unmitigated disaster. The

ones who disagreed and were willing to give the va-grant charlatans the benefit of doubt would possiblybe having some second thoughts.

But, quite comprehensively, we are well past thestage of any rethink. The seeds were sown exten-sively and the crop of abominable corruption andabdication of governance tended to lovingly overfour arduous years as we wait to reap the ultimateproduce. The only question is whether that wouldcome in the shape of a judicial coup or military in-tervention.

I have frequently written about the lack ofprospects of the military intervening directly, but itsrole in any change can never be underestimated par-ticularly when the environment has been distortedbeyond the contours of manageability and whenthere is an open confrontation between the execu-tive on the one hand and the military and the judi-ciary on the other hand. No one can be blamed morefor this than the executive itself which has indulgedceaselessly in acts smacking of mala fide intentions.

The government began with one massive liabil-ity who, over time, and to hide his transgressions in-ducted a coterie of cronies, even convicts grantedpresidential reprieve, who became co-operators inweaving a web of deception concerning every aspectof governance. To hide their crass misdemeanours,they needed to gain unbridled control over all eche-lons of the government. Three institutions posed

prospective hurdles in the process: thejudiciary (after restoration), the militaryand the media. To diminish its statureand credibility, the judiciary was wan-tonly scandalised, devious tactics wereemployed to weaken the military andthe premier intelligence agency whileevery endeavour was made to browbeatthe media into submission. When nei-ther of the tricks worked, the angergradually gave way to desperation andthe country was set on course to a show-down either with the dubious intentionof the government dying a political mar-tyr thus leaving it a chance at the nextelections, or bringing the system downand blaming it on undemocratic forcesit had been allegedly confrontingthrough the entire tenure of its incum-bency.

But, while the executive may havebeen digging its own grave over time,the judiciary and the military did justabout everything to facilitate itspredilection to hang itself. The judiciarydid it by inordinately delaying the is-suance of strategic injunctions andgoing soft on their implementation andthe military by showing a total lack of in-terest in intervening even when the op-portunity was offered to it on a goldenplatter. While the judiciary, basking inits new-found independence, may havebeen reluctant to move in too quickly to

rein in the governmental transgressions, the mili-tary was busy fighting an alien war that had beenimposed on it through the hideous capitulation ofthe former dictator. Instead of using the twin-op-portunity to consolidate its hold through good gov-ernance and delivery at the grassroots level, theexecutive chose to perpetuate abject corruption andgross mismanagement of the state and its institu-tions.

When its multiple devious machinations did notlead to giving it unquestioned hold on power, itstooped to conspiring against its own institutions.The Kerry-Lugar Bill, the May 2 incident and thememo are just three instances of this heinous en-deavour. But, every failure further incensed the gov-ernment’s recalcitrance and obduracy because itfully understood that the edifice it had erected stoodon weak pillars and the only course open for it tohide its misconduct was continued defiance of thelegitimate state institutions. Today, the governmentstands alone. Its allies are deserting it. It is in defi-ance of the apex court. Its confrontation with themilitary has only aggravated with the passage oftime.

The SC bench hearing the implementation ofthe NRO judgement case has held the president andthe prime minister guilty of having violated theiroaths of office and has offered six possible solutionsto the government. The judgement makes for an-other moot point because when the guilt of a personis established, he automatically becomes liable to beawarded an appropriate punishment which cannotbe left to his discretion as, in that case, every crimi-nal will want this precedence replicated.

Most controversial is option six which statesthat “...if in a given situation, the Executive is bentupon defying a final judicial verdict and is ready togo to any limit in such defiance, then, instead of in-sisting upon the Executive to implement the judicialverdict and thereby running the risk of bringingdown the constitutional structure itself, this courtmay exercise judicial restraint and leave the matterto the better judgement of the people of the countryand their representatives in the Parliament to ap-propriately deal with the delinquent”. This, interalia, politicises a matter that should have been han-dled strictly within the domain of law. Also, how canit be expected that a parliament that has been ren-dered irrelevant by the executive would be suddenlyelectrified to play a role? Does this make for anotherinstance of the judiciary blinking in the face of his-tory?

The one liability that the PPP-led governmentstarted with at the time of its induction has todaybecome a mountain of crises and conflict that is wellbeyond control. Its policy of confrontation has led itto becoming increasingly mired in unmanageablecontroversies and intrigues. The executive has be-come a victim of its own mala fide work that has dugin deep impacting every aspect of the national life.There appears to be no easy escape – either for thegovernment or the country.

The writer is a political analyst and a memberof the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He can be reachedat [email protected]

the one liability has become a mountain of crisesAn all-too-familiar script

‘Tis written? Mala fide

Candid CornerBy Raoof Hasan

By Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad



14 Foreign News

RAMALLAHAfP

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas saidhe will press on with a campaign for full statemembership at the United Nations despiteongoing “exploratory” talks with Israel.

Palestinian officials have said the talks,which so far have included two meetings inAmman in the last 10 days, will not con-tinue beyond January 26 — the deadlineset by the international peacemakingQuartet for both sides to submit compre-hensive proposals on borders and security.But the current dialogue with Israel will

not stop the Palestinians from seeking UNrecognition, Abbas said. “We will continueour (statehood) efforts in the SecurityCouncil,” he told a meeting of his Fatahmovement on Thursday, adding that healso planned to petition the UN’s HumanRights Council in Geneva over Israel’s con-tinued occupation of Palestinian territory.

“We want to make a complaintagainst the occupation, which violates theGeneva Convention,” Abbas said, accord-ing to an official transcript of his remarks.Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat saidthis week that meetings in Jordan wouldnot develop into full negotiations without

a settlement freeze and Israel agreeing toaccept parameters for future talks. “TheAmman talks are intended to obtain a set-tlement freeze and the use of the 1967lines as a reference for any future talks,and will be given a chance to succeeduntil January 26,” Erakat told AFP. In theabsence of formal negotiations with Is-rael, the Palestinians have focused theirattention on the international arena. In2011 they won a UNESCO seat over USand Israeli opposition.

Erakat said 2012 “will be the year thatthe Palestinians go to the United Nationsand all of its organisations.” Abbas also told

Fatah officials he was committed to recon-ciliation with the rival Hamas movement.“We want to bring reconciliation tofruition,” he said. “There are people in cer-tain places, I do not wish to specify where,who do not want reconciliation but there arepeople who do want reconciliation. “Recon-ciliation is the main thing and we shall notallow anyone to get in our way if we reachan agreement,” he said. The two factionssigned a unity deal in May 2011 followingyears of bitter hostility but it has yet to beimplemented. On Thursday, a senior Fatahofficial said the cause of the hold-up was in-ternal divisions within Hamas itself.

KANOAfP

AMOB killed two peopleand burnt mosques andhomes in an overnightraid on a mainly Muslimvillage in northeastern

Nigeria in the latest such violence to hitthe country, residents said Friday.

“It was around 11:30 pm (2230GMT) when a crowd from Imbur at-tacked Gwalam village, setting fire onhomes and mosques,” residentAbubakar Hussaini said, with Imbur alargely Christian area and Gwalammainly Muslim. “So far, we have twodeaths, and we still don’t know the fateof some residents who fled into thebush to escape the attack.”

The attack occurred in Adamawastate, which is to hold a governorshipelection on January 21. Such ethnic andreligious violence often occurs aroundelection periods in Nigeria, thoughsome residents believed the attack wasin retaliation for the recent killings ofChristians in the state claimed by Is-lamist group Boko Haram.

Gamo Jika, an official in the statefor one of Nigeria’s main Islamic or-ganisation, Jama’atu Nasri Islam, con-firmed two were killed. “We have twodead from the attack on Gwalam bysome Christians. We are taking inven-tory of houses burnt in the attack,” he

said. Adamawa state police spokes-woman Altine Daniel confirmed the at-tack but gave no details.

Imbur and Gwalam villages are lo-cated in Numan, a flashpoint of sectar-ian violence. Nigeria has seen spirallingviolence mostly blamed on Boko Haram,whose recent attacks targeting Chris-tians have sparked fears of a civil conflictin a country roughly divided between amainly Muslim north and mostly Chris-tian south. Meanwhile, a nationwidestrike and mass protests shut downNigeria for a fifth day running Friday,but union leaders called for a weekendpause in demonstrations as talks soughtto avert a halt in oil production.

A first round of negotiations be-

tween labour leaders and top govern-ment officials, including PresidentGoodluck Jonathan, failed to reach adeal on Thursday night over soaringfuel prices, but more talks are set forSaturday. Union officials said thepause in talks until then was to allowfor labour officials from across thecountry to gather in Abuja and meet onthe way forward. With domestic flightsgrounded, they would be forced tocome by road. The main oil workers’union has threatened to shut crudeproduction beginning on Sunday if thegovernment does not reverse a movethat ended fuel subsidies on January 1,more than doubling pump prices inAfrica’s top crude exporter.

Saudi forcesshoot deadShia protester

RIYADHAfP

Saudi security forces clashed with Shiaprotesters in the kingdom’s oil-rich east killingone person and wounding three, the interiorministry and witnesses said Friday. A“security forces’ patrol was carrying out itsnormal duties in (the Shia village of) Al-Awamiya late on Thursday when it wasattacked with a petrol bomb that left it inflames,” said a ministry spokesman incomments published by state news agencySPA. When security forces “tried to control thefire, they were shot,” it said, adding that Saudiforces responded. “The exchange of fire lefttwo of the assailants wounded. They weretaken to the hospital where one of them laterdied,” said the ministry spokesman. Witnessessaid earlier that security forces opened firewith live rounds after protesters hurled stonesat one of their vehicles in Al-Awamiya in theQatif region. Activists said IssamMohammed, 22, was killed by multiple bulletwounds. Three other people were woundedby security force fire, one of them a mandriving through a checkpoint at the entranceto the village, the activists said. Securityforces sealed off the village after the clashes,witnesses said. The clashes came afterdemonstrations were held in four Qatif regionvillages to call for the “release of politicaldetainees, reform and an end to sectariandiscrimination,” one activist told AFP on thecondition of anonymity. Protests erupted inthe Eastern Province in March whenmembers of the kingdom’s Shia minority tookto the streets to condemn Saudi militaryintervention against Shia-led pro-democracydemonstrations in neighbouring Bahrain.

Kuwait policebreak upstateless demo,several wounded

KUWAIT CITYAfP

Several people were wounded and dozensarrested Friday as Kuwaiti police used teargas, water cannons and batons to dispersestateless protesters demanding citizenship,witnesses and a rights group said.Hundreds of riot police backed byarmoured vehicles assaulted severalhundred protesters who braved a sterninterior ministry warning not todemonstrate as authorities promised toresolve their decades-old plight. Policechased the protesters into the streets ofJahra, northwest of the capital KuwaitCity, and arrested many of them, includinga 13-year-old boy, the independent KuwaitAssociation of Human Rights said on itsTwitter account. A number of youngprotesters were seen with their headsbleeding after they were beaten withbatons by riot police, witnesses said.Private Al-Watan TV channel said itsphotographer was wounded. Statelesspeople, officially known as illegal residentsor bidoons, have been demonstrating overthe past several weeks for their rights.Kuwait’s interior ministry issued threestatements this week warning them not todo so or face punishment.

court ordersnew psychiatricevaluation ofNorway gunman

OSLOAfP

An Oslo court on Friday ordered a newpsychiatric evaluation of Anders BehringBreivik, who killed 77 people in twinattacks in July, after an earlier and widelycontested test found him criminallyinsane. “Due to the gravity of this case,the criminal responsibility (of BehringBreivik) must be examined again,” OsloDistrict Court judge Wenche ElizabethArntzen told a news conference. Two newexperts, Agnar Aspaas and TerjeToerrisen, were named to evaluate the 32-year-old rightwing extremist’s sanity. Inlate November, two court-appointedpsychiatrists concluded that BehringBreivik was suffering from paranoidschizophrenia and should be consideredcriminally insane and therefore notaccountable for his actions. If the findingis confirmed, Behring Breivik, who hasconfessed to carrying out the deadliestmassacre on Norwegian soil since WorldWar II, would likely be sentenced topsychiatric care in a closed ward insteadof prison. The initial report, latersupported by an expert panel, wascontroversial in Norway, with criticspointing to the years of detailed planningBehring Breivik had put in and cool andmethodic execution of the massacre. OnJuly 22, Behring Breivik first set off a carbomb outside government buildings inOslo, killing eight people. He then went toUtoeya, some 40 kilometres (25 miles)northwest of Oslo, and, dressed as apolice officer, spent more than an hourmethodically shooting and killing another69 people, mainly teens, attending asummer camp hosted by the rulingLabour Party’s youth wing.

Mob kills 2, burns mosquesin raid on Nigerian village

Palestinians to press uN bid despite Quartet talks push

GGuLMARG: A Kashmiri snowboarder rides down a slope in Gulmarg, situated about 55 kms north of Srinagar, on friday. Gulmarg is the main ski destination in Indian-held Kashmir andhundreds of foreigners visit the slopes despite an ongoing insurgency in the region. AFP

g Protests, strike shut down nigeria for fifth day running


Foreign News 15Saturday, 14 January, 2012

TEHRANAfP

IRAN on Friday buried a topscientist it said was killed byIsrael and the United States aspart of a covert campaign againstits nuclear programme, as a US-

led drive for crippling sanctions ran intoopposition, even from allies.

Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a deputydirector of Iran’s main uraniumenrichment plant, was given a funeralservice in north Tehran after noonprayers, state media reported.

He and his driver were killed onWednesday when two men on amotorbike slapped a magnetic bomb onhis car while it was stuck in Tehrantraffic. Iran’s supreme leader, AyatollahAli Khamenei, said the “abominable” and“cowardly” killing was committed “withthe planning or support of the

intelligence services of the CIA andMossad,” of the United States and Israel.

He said in a statement his countrywould “continue with determination” itsnuclear activities, which Westerngovernments suspect mask a drive for aweapons capability despite Tehran’srepeated denials.

Some media close to Iran’sconservatives have called for“retaliation” against Israeli officials.The Iranian government has demandedthat the UN Security Council condemnthe “terrorist” killing.

The United States has stronglydenied it had anything to do with theassassination, although DefenceSecretary Leon Panetta admitted: “Wehave some ideas as to who might beinvolved.”

The prime suspect is widely seen asIsrael, as it was in the murders of threeother Iranian scientists in similar

circumstances over the past two years.Israel, though, has a policy of notcommenting on intelligence matters.

Asked in a CNN interview on Fridayif Israel was involved in Wednesday’sassassination, President Shimon Peressaid: “Not to the best of my knowledge.”

US President Barack Obama spokewith Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu the day after the scientist’smurder to discuss developments in Iran.

EU foreign ministers are to meet onJanuary 23 to consider new sanctionsincluding action against the central bankand a proposed ban on Iran oil importsthat may be phased in over months toavoid hurting struggling eurozoneeconomies.

But Iran’s two main allies on theworld stage, Russia and China, haveexpressed strong criticism of the newWestern measures and remain adamantlyopposed to any new UN sanctions.

Iran buries scientist slain by ‘CIA and Mossad’

2 killed as yemenpolice, protestersclash in south

ADENAfP

Two people were killed and 13 woundedwhen Yemeni police traded gunfire withsouthern separatists, and as nationwideprotests rejected a plan granting thepresident immunity from prosecution,activists and police said. “Shakib SuleimanHasan and an elderly man were killed and10 other protesters wounded when policeopened fire on a demonstration” in KhorMaksar district in the main southern city ofAden, said Mohammed al-Abadi, anactivist from the separatist SouthernMovement . A police official said threepolicemen, including a man identified asMajor Walid Saleh Ali, were wounded.Witnesses said police fired tear gas and liverounds at thousands who demonstrated toreject a Gulf-brokered plan that grantsPresident Ali Abdullah Saleh immunityfrom prosecution when he steps down.Gunmen among the protesters returnedfire, the same sources said. The SouthernMovement protesters also called forseparation on the anniversary of internalclashes on January 13, 1986 betweenfactions of the Yemeni Socialist Party thatruled the south of Yemen — anindependent state at the time. “TheSouthern Movement is boycotting theupcoming presidential elections across allsouthern provinces,” read their banners.“The Gulf Initiative does not concern us.”Based on a Gulf plan, Saleh will remain anhonorary president until February 21 whenVice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi willofficially replace him.

Myanmar freesleading politicalprisoners

YANGONAfP

Myanmar pardoned prominent dissidents,journalists and a former premier Fridayunder a major prisoner amnesty,intensifying a surprising series of reformsby the army-backed regime. Westernpowers have demanded the release ofpolitical detainees languishing in jail in thecountry formerly known as Burma beforethey will consider lifting sanctions on theregime and its cronies. Friday’s amnestyincluded members of the “88 GenerationStudents” group, which is synonymous withthe democratic struggle in Myanmar andwas at the forefront of a failed 1988uprising in which thousands died. The masspardon, which looked set to be the mostsignificant yet under the nominally civiliangovernment which took office last year, washailed by democracy leader Aung San SuuKyi’s opposition party as a “positive sign”.Amnesty International welcomed therelease as “a major step forward.”

tehRAN: Iranians hold a portrait of assassinated nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan and a wanted poster with portraits of uS President Barack obama, German Chancellor AngelaMerkel, french President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron during his funeral after the friday prayers outside tehran university. AFP

DAMASCUSAfP

Thousands demonstrated in support ofthe rebel Free Syrian Army on Friday,as longtime Damascus ally Moscowkept up its opposition to calls fortougher action against the regime, say-ing they were flagrant attempts to bringabout its downfall.

Meanwhile, both France and Syriaannounced investigations into thedeath of French TV correspondentGilles Jacquier, the first Western news-man to die in Syria since anti-regimeprotests erupted in March. Securityforces were out in strength as they havebeen each Friday for the main weeklydemonstrations. Security force firekilled one protester in Idlib province inthe northwest, a human right watchdogtold AFP in Nicosia.

The Syrian Observatory for HumanRights said 20,000 people had turnedout in the Idlib town of Ariha calling forthe overthrow of the regime, and an-other 15,000 in the Damascus suburbof Douma. Explosions were heard inthe flashpoint central city of Homs, the

Britain-based watchdog said. The secu-rity forces opened fire on demonstra-tors in Deir Ezzor in the northeast,Daraa province, south of the capital,and in the Damascus suburbs, it added.The rallies, following a day in which se-curity forces killed 15 civilians in theircrackdown, come after the largest civil-ian opposition group agreed to boostties with the rebels.

Burhan Ghaliun, the head of theSyrian National Council, an umbrellagroup that initially opposed the use offorce in the uprising, met on Thursdaywith rebel chief Colonel Riad al-Asaad.The SNC said they “extensively dis-cussed the situation on the ground andthe organisational capacity of the FSA.”They agreed to “formulate a detailedplan, to include the reorganisation ofFSA units and brigades, and the cre-ation of a format to accommodatewithin FSA ranks additional officersand soldiers, especially senior militaryofficials, who side with the revolution,”it added. Formed from deserters fromthe regular army who mutinied overthe regime’s deadly crackdown, theFSA says it has some 40,000 fighters

under its command.The numbers cannot be independ-

ently verified although the Syrian au-thorities have acknowledged mountinglosses at the hands of the rebels in re-cent months. UN Secretary GeneralBan Ki-moon, on his way to Syria’swestern neighbour Lebanon on Friday,issued a call for the international com-munity to stand together to address acrisis which the world body estimatedlast month had cost more than 5,000lives. In an interview with Lebanon’sAn-Nahar daily, Ban said he had re-peatedly appealed to Assad to stop thebloodshed and listen to his people butthat he had received only empty prom-ises. He said the UN Security Councilmust speak with one voice in seekingan end to the crisis but Moscow re-newed its opposition to Western callsfor tougher action by the world body.

Russian Deputy Foreign MinisterGennady Gatilov rejected Western-pro-posed amendments to a draft SecurityCouncil resolution on Syria whichMoscow circulated last month. “Unfor-tunately, the West’s approach radicallydiffers from ours,” Gatilov said.

british PM meetsSaudi king as Gulftensions run high

RIYADHAfP

British Prime Minister David Cameronheld talks Friday with Saudi KingAbdullah in Riyadh, state mediareported, as tensions soar between theWest and Tehran, the oil-rich kingdom’sarch-rival in the Gulf. The two leadersdiscussed “regional and internationaldevelopments as well as the variousmeans of strengthening cooperationbetween both countries,” the official SPAnews agency said, without elaborating.The meeting was attended by top Saudiofficials. Cameron’s first visit to theOPEC kingpin comes as Westerngovernments, including Britain, havemoved to step up sanctions over Iran’scontroversial nuclear programme,threatening an embargo on vital oilexports that has drawn an angryresponse from Tehran. Britain has beenseeking to strengthen ties with oil-richSaudi Arabia and boost exports to itslargest Middle East trading partner.Annual bilateral trade is worth 15 billionpounds ($23 billion), while Saudiinvestments in Britain amount to morethan 62 billion pounds.

Syrians rally in support ofrebels as russia backs ally

VIENNAAfP

A high-level UN nuclear agencydelegation will visit Iran late thismonth to try to clear up claims ofcovert weapons activities that havestoked tensions between Tehran andthe West, diplomats said Friday. Thetrip led by International AtomicEnergy Agency chief inspector HermanNackaerts and the agency’s numbertwo Rafael Grossi would last fromJanuary 28 through the first week ofFebruary, one Western diplomat toldAFP. Another envoy also said the visit,two months after an IAEA report onIran took suspicions to a new levelthat Tehran is developing nuclear

weapons, would “likely” be fromJanuary 28, although it was not yetdefinite. There was also some“ambiguity” on whether the delegationwould merely hold talks with Iranianofficials or be able to visit sitescovered in the IAEA’s bombshellNovember 8 report, the seconddiplomat said. “It may be that theIranians just want a short discussion inTehran, which would not be what theIAEA is looking for,” the envoy told AFPon condition of anonymity. An IAEAspokesman declined to comment. Iran’sambassador, Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, whosaid in December he would hold talkswith the IAEA in Vienna this monthabout a visit, was not immediatelyavailable to say any more.

uN N-watchdog to visit iran


BeSt PICtuRe: ‘the Artist’

BeSt ACtOR: George Clooney, ‘the

Descendants’

BeSt ACtReSS: Viola Davis, ‘the Help’

BeSt SuPPORtING ACtReSS: Octavia

Spencer, ‘the Help’

BeSt SuPPORtING ACtOR: Christopher

Plummer, ‘Beginners’

BeSt ACtING eNSeMBLe: ‘the Help’

BeSt DIReCtOR: Michel Hazanavicius,

‘the Artist’

BeSt COMeDy: ‘Bridesmaids’

BeSt ANIMAteD FILM: ‘Rango’

BeSt FOReIGN FILM: ‘A Separation’

BeSt yOuNG ACtOR OR ACtReSS:

thomas Horn, ‘extremely Loud and

Incredibly Close’

BeSt ADAPteD SCReeNPLAy:

‘Moneyball’, Steve Zaillian and Aaron

Sorkin, story by Stan Chervin

BeSt ORIGINAL SCReeNPLAy: ‘Midnight

in Paris’, Woody Allen

Here’s the full list of winners

16 Saturday, 14 January, 2012

IN LIMELIGHT

LoS ANGeLeS:‘Melrose Place’ actressHeather locklear wasrushed to hospitalafter she reportedlymixed alcohol andprescriptionmedication.“Emergency responsepersonnel respondedto a medicalemergency call atlocklear's residence,”people.com quotedMike Aranda of theVentura CountySheriff's departmentas saying. locklearwas rushed to ahospital for furthermedical attention.Hospital personnelwere taking care ofher, Aranda said.AGeNCIeS

Aamir enjoying free time with MuMBAI: Aamir Khan is abit free these days and theactor-producer is keepinghimself busy spending timein watching his newbornson grow up. “Hope the newyear has begun well for youall. Me, I'm spending all myfree time with Azad :-) love.a,” the 46-year-old postedon his Facebook page. Aamirand his second wife Kiranrao's son, Azad, was bornDec 1 last year, to asurrogate mother throughIVF. The actor, who also hasa son, Junaid, and adaughter, Ira, from his firstwife reena, loves playingwith his new bundle of joy.This year, he will be seenonly in one project. He willfeature alongside raniMukerji and Kareena Kapoorin reema Kagti's ‘Talaash’, apsychological thrillerwritten and directed byreema Kagti. This apart, hehas also joined hands withStar Plus for a talk show,said to be completely forthe masses. Aamir has alsobeen signed on to play thevillain in "Dhoom 3". But themovie will only release in2013. AGeNCIeS

Heather Locklear

hospitalisedlittle one

LoS ANGeLeS:

Lindsay Lohan

attends the

party hosted by

the Weinstein

Company and

Audi to

Celebrate Awards

Season. afP

lAHorE: Models walk

down the ramp during

Gliours Fashion Show

at a local hotel. inP

CALIFORNIA: Octavia Spencer, Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst arrive for the 17th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. afP

LOS ANGELESABC

‘The Artist’ took home the prize ofthe night at the Critics ChoiceAwards, winning best drama of theyear for the “love letter to Ameri-can cinema,” as the team behindthe French silent film put it intheir acceptance speech. It wasalso night of quips. After acceptingthe award for best comedy on be-half of ‘Bridesmaids’, Judd Apa-tow slammed Jerry Lewis, sayingthat the comedy he produced, inwhich Kristen Wiig served as starand co-writer, proved the veterancomedian wrong: “Jerry Lewisonce said that he didn’t thinkwomen were funny. So I’d just liketo say, with all respect, f*** you.”George Clooney won best actor(‘The Descendants’) and revealedthat his mom made him a Nauga-hyde leisure suit when he was insixth grade. Patton Oswalt saidhe’d compensate for not winningbest supporting actor (‘YoungAdult’) with lots and lots of scotch.

LOS ANGELES ReuteRS

RAPPER Nicki Minaj willmake her debut Grammyperformance next month,joining Foo Fighters, BrunoMars and country singer

Jason Aldean on the list of artists who willtake to the stage on the recording indus-try’s biggest night. Grammy organiserssaid on Thursday that Minaj, who has fourGrammy nominations, will perform at theFebruary 12 awards show, as well as coun-try sensation Taylor Swift, and KellyClarkson. But there was no official wordon Thursday on whether Britain’s Adele,

whose album ‘21’ was the biggest seller of2011, will be singing at the Grammys fol-lowing surgery on her vocal cords in No-vember. Adele, who has been ondoctor-ordered vocal rest since Novem-ber, was not among the first list ofGrammy performers. But the 23 year-old‘Someone Like You’ singer was listed onThursday as being down to sing at theBRIT music awards ceremony in Londonon February 21. Rapper Kanye West, wholeads this year’s Grammys with sevennominations, is also yet to be confirmedas a performer at the live awards show inLos Angeles. Organisers said additionalperformers and presenters will be an-nounced in the coming weeks.

Nicki Minaj, Foo Fighters to

at Grammysperform

‘Artist’ wins, Judd Apatow slams at 2012 Critics Choice Awards

MuMBAI: the firsttime Ranveer Singhset his eyes onKareena Kapoor, hegushed so much thatit almost embarrassedher. Imagine whatwould happen if hewere to share screenspace with her?Sources revealed thatKareena's good friendKaran Johar wasconsidering castingthe duo in one of hismany projects that arein the pipeline.Ranveer had once saidthat Kareena was thereason he transitionedfrom boyhood tomanhood, so we hopeBebo helps this boyturn from a novice toa natural. AGeNCIeS

Ranveer’s ‘Kareena fantasy’

fulfilled?


ABC

Nearly a year after Lady Gaga released her hit single “Born This Way,”Madonna is finally offering her take on the song … and it’s not exactly enthu-siastic. Gaga has long expressed her admiration for Madonna, calling the popicon an inspiration. Comparisons between the two divas have been inevitable,from their dance-hall beats to their risque musical treatment of sex and reli-gion. The two even teamed up for a “catfight” skit on ‘Saturday Night Live’in2010. But last February’s release of ‘Born This Way’ had many questioningwhether the Mama Monster had gone too far in emulating her idol. The song,

critics charged, was stunningly similar to Madonna’s 1989 chart-topper,‘Express Yourself’. Gaga would go on to say that she got an e-mail

from Madonna’s “people” saying they supported the song, but arepresentative for Madonna later said she was unaware ofany such e-mail. Starting with the question of whetherMadonna felt Gaga was “copying” her. The pop singer’sresponse, at first, was complimentary. She called Gaga “avery talented artist” and said she admired her song writ-ing. But she owned up to the connection between Gaga’smusic and her own. “I certainly think she references me alot in her work. And sometimes I think it’s amusing andflattering and well done,” she said. “There’s a lot of waysto look at it. I can’t really be annoyed by it …because, ob-viously, I’ve influenced her.” But the Material Girl be-came coy when the conversation turned to “Born ThisWay. When I heard it on the radio …I said that soundsvery familiar,” Madonna said. Asked if that felt annoying, Madonna responded, “It felt reductive.”

MuMBAI: we all knowthat they have a longhistory. But formerlovers and now friendsKatrina Kaif and SalmanKhan seem to bebonding big time on theset of ‘Ek Tha Tiger’. Somuch so, that the couplehas decided to go on adinner date! Buzz has itthat Katrina is beingencouraged by herformer beau Salman togive her best for one ofthe scenes in the film.The scene is supposedto be a difficult one andit seems Katrina isnervous aboutperforming the sceneproperly. To encourageKatrina to put her bestfoot forward, Salmanhas promised her alavish dinner date if shegives the perfect shot inthe first take itself. Theformer lovers seem tobe very comfortablewith each other. Doesthat mean they willrekindle their romance?Guess, we will have towait and watch!zeeNeWS

17

NEWS DESK

Krizmah, one of the most excitingnames to emerge in the field ofhandmade bags, recently launched atEnsemble, a high-end multi designerboutique located in both Lahore andKarachi. Both boutiques will now bestocking Krizmah bags permanently.The Krizmah label is owned by twoLahore based graphic designers ZainabUlmulk (a member of the ancientKatur dynasty of Chitral), Nadia Malikand Chitrali female artisans. Thepurpose behind Krizmah is to producehaute couture hand bags for globalfollowers of fashion. At the launch Zainab said: “I havealways been engaged in creativepursuits and was drawn to the idea ofdeveloping a Chitrali product because ofmy link with the area, and that’s wherethe concept of Krizmah emerged from.” “Each Krizmah bag is completely handstitched by artisans. Each bag has astory behind it such as the Joshi bagwhich talks about the traditional annualspring festival of the Kalash people inthe middle of May,” said Nadia. After conducting a series of exhibitionsfor Krizmah in Lahore, Islamabad,London and Singapore, Zainab andNadia felt that they needed a placewhere they could permanently stocktheir bags. “The response to ourexhibitions was phenomenal and thatwas what inspired us to look at a placefor permanent stocking and so wechose to go with Ensemble since as abrand house it only caters to high-endproducts and Krizmah is a high-endproduct,” said Ulmulk and Malik.

MuMBAI: first Katrina Kaif's look inspired afashion Barbie doll and now heartthrobhrithik Roshan is likely to walk the rampfor Mattel toys. Katrina had walked theramp in 2009 for Barbie and Mattel hasnow roped in hrithik as the brandambassador for racing game hot Wheelsteam Xtreme. he is likely to walk theramp at the India Kids fashion Week,starting Jan 17, in a collection designed byNarendra Kumar. Kumar has a tie-up with‘hot Wheels team Xtreme: Buckle up’ andhis collection targeting boys across allages will be showcased on the inauguralday. India Kids fashion Week is the firstsuch dedicated to children. the three-day event will see Indian andinternational designers exploringthe relatively untouched territoryof children's lines by displayingapparel, toys, accessories and alot more. AGeNCIeS

Salman Katrina to go on aAfter Katrina, Hrithik to walk

PArIS: rooney

Mara and Daniel

Craig take part in a

TV broadcast show

as part of the

promotion of the

movie ‘Millenium :

The Girl with The

Dragon Tattoo’. AFP

JAIPUR zeeNeWS

THE government of Rajasthan has extendeda helping hand to ailing ghazal maestroMehdi Hassan. As a token of support, theRajasthan govt has offered to bear all themedical expenses incurred by Hassan and

his family. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot spoke toHassan’s son Asif Mehdi about the veteran’s healthcondition and offered monetary and treatment in India.Gehlot also directed the chief secretary of Rajasthan tokeep in touch with Hassan’s family across the border.Hassan is currently in the ICU of a private hospital inKarachi since Tuesday after he complained of breathingproblem. The 84 year old singer, who was born inRajasthan had to leave for Pakistan post partition.

Madonna breaks silence on Gaga ‘Born This Way’ controversy

handmade bags newest haute couture item

date?the ramp for kids



Azarenka ends li’swinning run in Sydney

PERTHAfP

AUSTRALIAN opener DavidWarner questioned India'sresolve after slamming theequal fourth fastest centuryin Test cricket on a horror

opening day for the tourists in the thirdTest in Perth Friday. Warner reached hishundred off 69 balls and did it in style,clouting debutant paceman VinayKumar for his third six of the innings.

The Indians, down 2-0 in the seriesand needing to win both remainingTests to retain the Border-Gavaskar Tro-phy, were routed for just 161 off 60.2overs after being sent in to bat.

Australia then raced to 149 withoutloss at stumps, with Warner unbeatenon 104 and Ed Cowan on 40 for Aus-tralia to trail by just 12 runs.

The openers scored at better than sixruns an over against an impotent Indianbowling attack and Warner questionedIndia's commitment. "In my mind, theyare bowled over already," he said. "They

have to work out how they can play out-side India." Warner's prodigious hit wasthe second-quickest ton at Perth'sWACA Ground, behind Adam Gilchrist's57-ball blitz against England in 2006.

It capped a miserable day for thetourists with Sachin Tendulkar's questfor an elusive 100th international hun-dred again delayed after he was dis-missed for just 15.

"I didn't even realise when I was on80-odd I had only faced 40-odd ballsand I was actually shocked," saidWarner, who has now scored two cen-turies in five Tests. "I was looking at mystrike-rate and thinking this isn't Testcricket, this is something different. Butthat is how I approach the game."

The only setback was when he wasstruck around the left ear by UmeshYadav on 80, the left-hander lookinggroggy as play was held up for severalminutes after he sought treatment fromthe team physio. But when play resumedhe clubbed the next two balls for fourand took just seven more deliveries tosprint to his second Test ton. Virat

Kohli, who topscored in the Indian in-nings with 44, said it was bad toss tolose, but denied the cause was lost."Early on it was seaming around a bit,but as the day progressed it got better tobat on," Kohli said.

"They might come out tomorrowand lose wickets in clusters, you neverknow what might happen." The Indiantail again showed little appetite for thecontest as the tourists lost their last sixwickets for just 30 runs. The rejuvenatedswing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus continuedhis fine season and took his series tallyto 19 wickets with four for 43, whilePeter Siddle claimed three for 42.

It was another inept batting displayby India's ageing top order, with Viren-der Sehwag out for a four-ball duck andmisfiring Rahul Dravid making justnine, while Tendulkar looked in superbform but also went cheaply. Havingplayed two elegant straight drives in thefirst over he faced, Tendulkar was de-ceived by a delivery from recalled pace-man Ryan Harris that nipped backtrapping him leg before wicket.

Warner wallops clueless India

PErTH: India’s Mr wall rahul Dravid is cleaned up yet again. (Centre) David warner plays a shot on his way to scoring 104 and (right) Ben Hilfenhaus celebrates the wicket of Zaheer Khan. AFP/ReUTeRS

INDIA, 1st innings:

G. Gambhir c haddin b hilfenhaus 31

V. Sehwag c Ponting b hilfenhaus 0

R. Dravid b Siddle 9

S. tendulkar lbw harris 15

V.V.S. Laxman c Clarke b Siddle 31

V. Kohli c Warner b Siddle 44

M.S. Dhoni c Ponting b hilfenhaus 12

V. Kumar lbw Starc 5

z. Khan c Clarke b hilfenhaus 2

I. Sharma c haddin b Starc 3

u. Yadav not out 4

eXtRAS: (b2, lb2, w1) 5

totAL: (all out; 60.2 overs) 161

fall of wickets: 1-4 (Sehwag), 2-32 (Dravid), 3-59

(tendulkar), 4-63 (Gambhir), 5-131 (Kohli), 6-138 (Laxman),

7-152 (Kumar), 8-152 (Dhoni), 9-157 (Khan), 10-161 (Sharma).

BoWLING: Ryan harris 18-6-33-1, Ben hilfenhaus 18-5-43-4,

Mitchell Starc 12.2-3-39-2 (1w), Peter Siddle 12-3-42-3.

AuStRALIA, 1st innings:

e. Cowan not out 40

D. Warner not out 104

eXtRAS: (lb3, w2) 5

totAL: (for no wickets; 23 overs) 149

BoWLING: zaheer Khan 7-1-44-0 (1w), umesh Yadav 6-1-42-

0 (1w), Vinay Kumar 4-0-31-0, Ishant Sharma 5-0-28-0,

Virender Sehwag 1-0-1-0.

Yet to bat: Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke

(capt), Michael hussey, Brad haddin, Peter Siddle, Mitchell

Starc, Ben hilfenhaus, Ryan harris. Nathan Lyon (12th man).

toss: Australia, umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Kumar

Dharmasena (SRI), Video umpire: Paul Reiffel (AuS),

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

SCoReBoARD

DUBAIAfP

Jonathan Trott returned to form with 93 asEngland geared up for next week's firstTest against Pakistan with a 100-run winover Pakistan Cricket Board XI in theirthree-day tour match here on Friday.

Trott, England's number three batsmanwho was declared ICC player of the year in2011, looked back to his best to allow histeam declare their second innings at 138-8before bundling their opponents out for 150.

That made it two wins out of two afterthey won the tour opener against ICC Com-bined XI by three wickets here on Monday,to gain valuable confidence ahead of thefirst of three Tests against Pakistan startinghere from Tuesday. Skipper AndrewStrauss also hit 62 but Kevin Pietersen (3),Ian Bell (12 not out) and Eoin Morgan, whodid not bat, remained in search of their bestform ahead of the Test series.

Trott, who hit 12 fours during his 150-ball knock, had a sound opening partnershipof 130 with Strauss and overcame concernson his form after scoring one, 35 and noughtin the previous innings of the tour.

Chris Tremlett (2-32) and GrahamOnions (3-38) remained in the hunt for aplace in the Tests as England bowled withdiscipline to get their opponents -- mostlycomprising Pakistan's top first-class per-formers -- out cheaply.

Only Pakistan discards Fawad Alam(51) and Usman Salahuddin (32) offeredsome resistence during their resolutefourth wicket stand of 71, lifting their teamfrom a precarious 16-3 after being set 251to win in a possible of 63 overs.

Trott misses hundred but England gain another win

DuBAI: PCB XI's Fawad Alam plays a shot as England's Prior and Strauss look on. (right) England's Jonathan Trott plays a shot in the practice match between England and PCB XI. AFP/ReUTeRS

Tremlett waits for Test chanceDUBAI: Lanky paceman Chris Tremlett said on Friday he did not expect to be se-lected to play in the first Test against Pakistan starting in Dubai next week due to thenature of the pitch. The 30-year-old fast, who played the last of his ten Tests againstIndia in July last year, took two wickets in each innings during England's 100-run winover Pakistan Cricket Board XI here on Friday. But with a slow, spin track expected forTuesday's opener against Pakistan, England will be keen on playing two spinners --Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar. The latter increased his chances of playing by tak-ing eight wickets in the second tour match. "The competition (for places) is tight, andyou have to be on the ball all the time. I guess I'm not expecting to play, but just wait-ing to see what happens," said Tremlett, who overcame back trouble to get a place onthe tour. Tremlett said England will assess the conditions before deciding on the finaleleven for the Test. "We'll assess conditions when we get to the stadium. All I can do isput my name in the hat. I'm back fit and hope I will get selected," he said. AfP

eNGLAND, 1st innings: 269-9 decl (A. Cook 133,

M. Prior 46; Yasir Shah 5-75, Mohammad talha 4-43)

PCB XI, 1st innings: 200-9 decl (Raza hasan 50 not out;

M. Panesar 5-57)

eNGLAND 2nd innings:

A. Strauss lbw b Shah 62

J. trott c Khalil b Shah 93

K. Pietersen c Jamshed b Shah 3

I. Bell not out 12

eXtRAS: (b5, lb1, nb4, w1) 11

totAL: (for three wkts decl) 181

fall of wickets: 1-130 (Strauss), 2-140 (Pietersen), 3-181 (trott).

BoWLING: talha 11-2-50-0 (nb3, w1), Khalil 9-2-27-0 (nb1),

hasan 17-1-57-0, Shah 11.3-0-38-3, Ayub 1-0-3-0

overs: 49.3

PCB XI, 2nd innings:

Nasir Jamshed c Prior b tremlett 0

Afaq Raheem b onions 7

Mohammad Ayub lbw b onions 0

usman Salahuddin c Swann b Panesar 32

fawad Alam c trott b Pietersen 51

haris Sohail lbw b Swann 11

Sarfraz Ahmed c Prior b tremlett 11

Raza hasan st Prior b Panesar 22

Yasir Shah lbw b onions 10

Mohammad talha lbw b Panesar 3

Mohammad Khalil not out 0

eXtRAS: (nb3) 3

totAL: 150

fall of wickets: 1-7 (Raheem), 2-7 (Jamshed), 3-16 (Ayub) 4-87

(Salahuddin), 5-103 (Alam), 6-114 (Sarfraz), 7-120 (Sohail), 8-134

(Shah), 9-148 (hasan).

BoWLING: tremlett 10-3-32-2 (nb1), onions 10-3-38-3 (nb1),

Swann 16-4-24-1, Panesar 14.3-3-46-3, Pietersen 2-0-10-1

overs: 52.3

Result: england won by 100 runs

toss: PCB XI

SCoReBoARD

Moshin warnsEngland of numberone pressure

DUBAIAfP

Pakistan coach Mohsin Khan Fridaywarned England will feel the heat tomaintain their world number one rankingagainst his fast-rising team in the three-Test series starting next week. Englandrose to the top of ICC (InternationalCricket Council) Test rankings after beat-ing India 4-0 on their home grounds lastyear but face a stiff challenge against aresurgent Pakistan on the slow tracks ofUnited Arab Emirates. Khan, a formeropening batsman, said England will behard pressed to maintain their top stand-ing. "I won't say they will be hugely underpressure, but definitely this kind of pres-sure will be there, because they have tomaintain their position. Once a team or aperson attains the top position that pres-sure exists," said Khan, 56. Khan, whotook over as interim coach after WaqarYounis quit the post in September lastyear, said his team was rising fast. "Pak-istan is coming up and coming up fastover the last 18 months. I am workinghard with the boys who are also doingtheir best and we are expecting for somefavourable results," said Khan. Pakistanhave not lost a Test series since losing toEngland on the 2010 tour. Khan praisedEngland's balance as they won both theside games ahead of the first Test startinghere from Tuesday. England beat Pak-istan Cricket Board XI by 100 runs onFriday. "I feel that apart from Englandbeing ranked number one, which I don'tcare much about as rankings goes up anddown, but they are a very balanced sideand will pose good competition for us."As far as my team goes, I can happily saythat we have a talented side and we haveto mix up that talent with a professionalattitude to counter the opposition," saidKhan, who termed the series as a test forthe batsmen. "I think both teams have agood pace attack, good spinners, so it willbe a test for the batsmen because boththe teams have good bowlers," saidMohsin, who started his 48-Test careeragainst England in 1977. Khan admittedspinners would have a role in the series.


Sports 19Saturday, 14 January, 2012

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

fORMER Pakistan captainShahid Afridi will get a freshcentral contract when thePakistan Cricket Board an-nounces its list of centrally

contracted players for the year 2012.Afridi had lost his contract in May whenhe announced his retirement from inter-national cricket in protest against theBoard's decision to remove him as cap-tain of the one-day team and its policies.

He made a comeback to the nationalteam for the one-day series against SriLanka in November and is presentlyplaying in the Big Bash in Australia . APCB official said chairman Zaka Ashrafhad asked the concerned officials to start

preparing the list of players to be givencentral contracts this year in consulta-tion with the national selectors and teamcoach. "Obviously Afridi will get a con-tract because if he is playing. There is noreason to not give him a contract as he isa former captain and senior player whois performing," the official said.

But he admitted the same fatemight not await senior players KamranAkmal and Shoaib Malik. Malik waspart of the Pakistan team until he wasdropped for the series against Englandbecause of poor form while the selectorshave constantly ignored Akmal sinceafter the World Cup for various reasons.

"The emphasis this time will be onrewarding those players who have per-formed consistently well in 2011 andalso maintained top fitness. Taufiq

Umar because of his performancescould be promoted to the top contractcategory," he said. He conceded that thelist of contracted players could increaseand the emphasis would be on encour-aging new players. The PCB has not yetdecided whether to make any incre-ments in the present slab system ofmonthly payments to the players.

"This is something for the Chairmanand governing council to decide whenthe list is finalised," the official said. Atpresent the players in the top A categoryget a monthly salary of 250,000 fromthe Board besides their match fees andother perks and benefits. The officialalso said only those players would beconsidered for the central contracts whoare clear for national selection by thecricket board's integrity committee.

Afridi to get central contract

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

Delhi Rugby Club president Lala Bh-seen Jun Jun is delighted over the loveand hospitality he and his team re-ceived on their visit to the city.

The team arrived here on Wednes-day to play a couple of matches andfigure in a local 7 a side tournament.

Addressing a press conferencehere on Friday, Lala said that therehas not been much of the sporting ex-changes between the two countries butthe team he has brought to Pakistan ishere to win hearts and when they re-turn home they will spread goodwillabout this country. Apart from playingthe 7s tournament, the visiting teamwill also play two test matches withLahore Rugby Club.

Pakistan Rugby Union SecretaryArif Saeed said that it was the best op-portunity to promote Indo-Pak sportsactivity. President Lahore Rugby ClubHaji Anwar, Captain of LRFC ShakeelAhmed, Captain of Dehli Lions Happyand DHA rugby club Jibran were also

in present on the occasion.LRFC spokesmen Fowzan Wain

said that the tour will consist of twofull 15-a-side matches and a 7s tourna-ment against Pakistan’s super leagueteams Lahore Djuice Rams. The firstmatch was played on the 12th at theUMT ground while the second finalwill be played between the two old ri-vals, Lahore Djuice Rams, which isPakistan No 1 ranked Super league

club and the guests.Both the teams having quite a few

national team players will meet onSunday at 2 pm at DHA stadium.

The 7s tournament in which thevisiting team will feature also involveLahore Djuice Rams, GarrisonionsServis Bulls, UMT Lahore, LUMS La-hore , University of Lahore, AIT RugbyClub , Multan rugby Club, Muzzafar-gurh rugby and DHA rugby Club.

lAHorE: Delhi rugby Club’s president lala Bhseen with Pru officials at thepress conference. STAFF PHOTO

Delhi Rugby Club’s chief wantsmore series with Pakistan

Statelife/olympia inPakistan Cup Polo final

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

Statelife/Olympia won the match NewageCables to qualify for the main final of thePakistan Polo Cup. Hilton Pharma/Unitedwon their match and qualified for the sub-sidiary final against HBL on Sunday.Hilton Pharma/United beat Park View Vil-las/Army 7-5. Santiago Mendivil with fourgoals, Ahmed Zubair two and AhmedKhan one ensured win for HiltonPharma/United. The losing side got theirgoals from Isfandiyar Ali Patuadi who hitfour goals while Hamza Mawaz Khan hadone. Statelife/Olympia had luck on theirside when their one-and-a-half goal ad-vantage earned their place in the final.Statelife/Olympia won the match againstNewage Cables by half a goal margin (6½-6) All the efforts of Shah Shamyl Alamwho hit five goals with Bilal Haye Mehta(one goal) for Newage went in vain whileAhmed Ali Tiwana after scoring goals withAtif Yar Tiwana and Abdul Rehman Mon-noo having one each returned back to thedressing room smiling with win.Umpires for the matches were Shah Qubi-lai Alam, Raja Samiullah, Santiago Men-divil and Raja Temur Nadeem.

Eight matches decidedin lCCA Super league

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

Eight more matches were played in theLCCA Super Cricket League of East ZoneClubs on Thursday. Prince Club beat NewUnion Club by 42 runs at Cricket Centerground. Prince Club 242, New Union club200. Shafqat Rana Club outplayed Impe-rial Club by two wickets at Town shipWhites ground. Imperial Club 223/9,Shafqat Rana Club 224/8. Fayaz Memorialclub defeated Shaheen Club by 10 wickets.Shaheen Club 34, Fayaz Memorial club35/0. Baghbanpura Eaglets beat Ghazi-abad Sports at Wahdat Colony ground.Ghaziabad Sports 209. Baghbanpura Ea-glets 210/6. Young Prince club beat Ghazi-abad Gym by 136 runs at New Itefaaqground. Young Prince Club 190, GhaziabadGym 54. Lucky Star beat Servis Colts by 72runs at Itefaq Hospital ground. Lucky Star217, Servis Colts 145. Jallo Gym beatGhalib Gym by 4 wickets . Ghalib Gym173/7, Jallo Gym 174/6. Servis Club gotwalkover against Mughalpura Greeners.

Delhi Gym beatChuburji Gym

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

Dehli Gym moved to the next round ofLCCA Super Cricket League when theybeat Chuburji Gym by four wickets atWahdat Colony ground the other day. Scores: Chuburji Gym 197. Yasir Ali 71,M Majid 22, M Sohail Fazal 19. WaqarAli 4/13, Umer Butt 2/36, GhulamMuhayudin 1/18.Dehli Gym 198/6. Naveed Zia 54, AliRaza 39, M Imtiaz 22, Moaz Teeniya 20,Waqar Ali 25 (no). Ijaz Sadiq 2/21,Sharlesh MEhmood 2/47.

Three matchesdecided in Jrnational Hockey

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

Another three matches were played inthe 31st U-21 National Hockey Champi-onship in progress at National HockeyStadium here.In today’s (Friday) matches WAPDA,PHF Academy and NBP registered easywins.WAPDA beat Balochistan 12-0 (fulltime), 3-0 (half time); WAPDA: M. Sule-man 4 goals 6th, 11th, 39th & 49th min-utes (FG), Asad 2 goals 27th & 60thminutes (FG), M. Rizwan 3 goals 38th,58th & 61st minutes (FG), Aleem Bilal 2goals 45th & 70th minutes (PC) & M.Irfan (Capt) 63rd minute (FG).PHF Academy beat Sindh 4-0 (full time),1-0 (half time); PHF Academy: Awais-ur-Rehman 2 goals 33rd & 45th minutes(FG) & Mudassar Ali 2 goals 41st & 52ndminutes (FG). NBP beat Islamabad 14-0 (Full Time), 4-0 (Half Time)NBP: Kashif Javed 4th minute (PC),Ahmed Zubair 3 goals 25th, 36th & 56thminutes (FG), Zohaib Azeem Khan 2 goal29th & 67th minute (FG), KhurramShahzad 2 goals 35th & 60th minute(FG), M. Dilber 2 Goals 39th & 48thminute (FG), Arslan Qadir 2 goals 43rd &52nd minutes (FG), Ayub Ali 51st minute(FG) & Ali Hussain 70th minute (PC).

Sindh issuesannual tennisranking

KARACHIStAff RePoRt

The Sindh Tennis Association has issuedits annual ranking which is based on 11Sindh ranking championships held inprovince Sindh during the calendar year2011. Aqeel Khan continued to be the topplayers in men’s singles with 130 rankingpoints and Sara Ahmed became new topwomen player of the year. With accumu-lated 150 points, she has taken over theposition from Maheen Dada who is at sec-ond position with 130 points.FollowInG ArE ToP Four PoSITIonS In VArIouS EVEnTSMeN’S SINGLeS1: Aqeel Khan 130 pts, 2 Sikander Hayat 111, 3 Jalil Khan110, 4 omer Shahid 105. ladies Singles: 1. Sara Ahmed 150, 2. Maheen Dada 130,3. neha Khan 100, 4. urooj Iltifat 75JuNIoRS uNDeR 17 SINGLeS: 1. Hassaan Siddiqui 190, 2. Talha Zubair 150, 3. MalikHamza 120, 4. Farhan Mustafa 110. uNDeR 15 SINGLeS1. Malik Hamza 195, 2. Saud Shoaib 155, 3. Azhar A. qadir130, 4. nazif Ahmed 125. under 13 singles: 1. Hasan Farooq 265, 2. nazif Ahmed180, 3. Dawar rehan 160, 4. Marib Malik 150. under 11 singles: 1. Houd Azher 270, 2. Bilal Imran lohya205, 3. Shahzil Malik 160, 4. M. Dada 73under 9 singles: 1. Houd Azher 290, 2. M. Dada 195, 3. AliFaisal 90 pts, 4. osama Khan 40. 35 plus singles: 1. Ejaz Sarhadi 65, 2. Tahir Iftikhar 50, 3.Azheruddin 40, M. A Saeed 40. 4. M. Iltifat 35 pts45 Plus singles: 1. Gul Hameed 80 points, 2. Syed M. Jalal70, 3. Karim Gul Agha 60, 4. Azheruddin 35.

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

The par 72, 18 holes Royal Palm Golf Course ranks as amajestic and awesome test of golf players’ ability and onSaturday it will host the 5th Club Indigo Golf Tournament,to be contested over 18 holes and participated by 120 cor-porate leaders, most of whom are golfers of ability, thoughnot in practice and hence shot making might turn out tobe a little rusty.

But a large number of them do not seek a major victoryor a win and will be content with playing at a golf courselike Royal Palm in august company and enjoying the su-perb hospitality of Mobilink who are famous for givingsuch events a touch of cheer and joy.

These 120 competing golfers have a love for this gameand the occasion helps them to revive their golfing relation-ships and a feel of the golfing arena. Amongst them aresome who manage to retain their rhythm and without beingplagued by any kind of jitters hope to cast their winningspell over the championship and take home some enviable

prizes, supplemented by glittering trophies.Most of such hopefuls are single handicappers who are

not bothered by creaky swings or inaccurate hitting andthus add grace to the occasion with birdies and ample reg-ulation pars and thus produce par or under par scores.

The Royal Palm Golf Course is demanding with greenstrue and fast and the fairways supportive to crisp shot-making. And demons are there too in the shape of 72bunkers, water hazards on holes 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 12,13, 14, 15, 16 and finally on the closing hole, the 18th. Ad-ditionally the eight man made lakes cause a fright of theirown and golfers have to keep their nerves safe from un-bearable stress and causing limbs to stiffen and result increaky swings. To add a touch of majestic grandeur, arethe age old trees, some 50 plus years old. Col(r)Jamil, Di-rector Golf rightly pointed out, "all these threats of haz-ards and out of bounds can be neutralized with rhythmand graceful play". And at least twenty of the competitorshave the ability to do that. The Mobilink Club Indigo GolfTournament has already been held at Karachi and nextarena is the Islamabad Golf Course.

indigo Golf at Royal Palm from today

MANCHESTERAfP

Carlos Tevez could play for ManchesterCity again, according to assistant man-ager David Platt, after the want-awaystriker's proposed transfer to AC Milancollapsed on Thursday.

The 27-year-old Argentina interna-tional has not featured for PremierLeague leaders City since September,having been frozen out by managerRoberto Mancini after refusing to comeon a substitute in a Champions Leaguematch away to Bayern Munich.

It had been thought that incidenthad damaged Tevez's relationship withMancini beyond repair but Platt,speaking to reporters here Friday, said

there was still a chance of the formerManchester United star representingCity again. "Stranger things have hap-pened," former England midfielderPlatt said. City, three points clear atthe top of the Premier League, travelto Wigan on Monday where they willlook to bounce back after sufferingsuccessive defeats for the first timesince 2008.

The holders were knocked out ofthe FA Cup by United last weekend be-fore a midweek League Cup semi-finalfirst leg loss to Liverpool. But Platt in-sisted City were not cracking under thepressure of expectation. "No one ex-pected us to continue winning gameswithout having a difficult moment,"said Platt. "We can't accelerate the sea-

son by four months to see how it isgoing to turn out. "But weare still in the Carling(League) Cup semi-finaland our players arequite capable of turningthe situation around,and 19 clubs would liketo be where we are inthe championship. "It isnot a bad position to bein --- some crisis."Meanwhile Plattsaid City ex-pected to haveDavid Silva fitto face Wiganafter theSpain winger

suffered an ankle injury in the defeat byUnited that saw him miss the Liver-

pool clash. "David did a bit ofrunning yesterday (Thursday)

and will do a bit more today(Friday)," said Platt. "Hope-fully he will be back on thetraining pitch tomorrow(Saturday)." But Platt wasnot so positive aboutstriker Mario Balotelli, who

aggravated an ankle in-jury against Liver-

pool. "Maybe (hecould playa g a i n s tWigan). Butthat's all itis, a maybe."

Tevez could play for City again, says Platt


Sports20Saturday, 14 January, 2012

United have called backPaul Scholes, Arsenal haverecalled Thierry Henry,how long will it be beforeLiverpool make a movefor Robbie Fowler?

Legends of their respective clubs andof the Premier League era, Paul Scholesand Thierry Henry have put pen to paperthat has heralded their second comingsduring a truly bizarre start to the Januarytransfer window. Add to these signingsthe loan deals of Landon Donovan andRobbie Keane, with Everton and AstonVilla respectively, and the peculiarity ofthe winter signings become all the moreconspicuous. Is it a matter of muchneeded influx of experience, a case ofshrewd purchases, a complete lack ofquality available in the market or do themoves smack of sheer desperation?

SChoLeS to the ReSCue?

Manchester United’s midfield predica-ment has been thoroughly discussed inthis space, and by pundits around theglobe. The problem is so obviously omi-nous that even the most deluded ofUnited fans wouldn’t doubt the claimthat 2009 onwards, United’s midfieldhas been their Achilles’ heel. Recently,Michael Carrick has come to the fore byproviding some much needed stability,but since his partner has become a lot-tery draw – much like most of the United

lineup – the English Champi-ons’ midfield has become ahotchpotch of uncertainty.

From 2006-2009, Carrickand Scholes formed a formida-ble midfield duo. The duowasn’t quite as robust, orindeed dynamic, as someof the more legendarymidfield twosomes; butconsidering the fact thatthe era coincided with theRonaldo (and Tevez) era, theon-the-ball skills of Carrickand Scholes meant that itwas like having two verycompetent quarterbacks or-chestrating the show fromthe middle of the park; al-lowing Rooney, Ronaldoand Tevez to expound theirflair and score goals.

Like for like replace-ments are rare in football;despite the fact that one reg-ularly hears pundits say thatplayer X is yet to be replaced,and the void of player Y is stilltangible. The fact of the matteris that when influential play-ers leave, more often than notthe managers resort to a newsystem. Carrick was neverKeane’s replacement; he was avery shrewd purchase whichresulted in the most successfulera in United’s history. The RedDevil brigade might label it blas-phemous, but having Keane inthe 2006-09 seasons wouldn’thave had been as successful as

having Carrick in the middle alongwith Scholes.

Similarly, when Ronaldo left in2009, Valencia was never a direct re-

placement. The signing of the for-mer Wigan man connoted

that United were going toresort back to the 4-4-2 ofthe late 90s – with twoproper wingers on eitherflank – and hence

United needed either agoal scoring mid-fielder or a midfielddestroyer to com-

plement that. As ofnow, even with Scholes

arriving, they have neither. Carrick can do the holding

midfielder’s job quite compe-tently – not quite of the DidierDeschamps or the ClaudeMakelele mould – but his read-ing of the game ensures that hedoesn’t have to make last ditchtackles. But with that you needa goal scoring midfielder – a laFrank Lampard or Steven Ger-rard of their halcyon days – infront of him. Having Scholespartner Carrick would be athrowback to the two quarter-back days but without a fluid in-

terchangeable frontline to makethe overall composition of the team

as menacing as it was back then.

VA VA VooM

Receive a decent through ball, takea touch, compose yourself, locateyour spot and bury it with effort-

less ease. Thierry Henry, 34 yearsyoung, makes it look oh so simple,while some other forwards in theleague with a combined transfer fee ofumpteen gazillion pounds aren’t ableto buy a goal at the moment. Henry’sreturn – and instant impact – notonly generated a vigorous nostal-gic sensation at the Emirates, italso seems to have solved the ‘ifnot RVP then who’ puzzle.

As mentioned in this col-umn a couple of weeks back,Henry’s return is not only amasterful footballing deal, itis all worth it even for the‘feel good factor’ only. SinceArsenal, unlike United, arecalling on their old warhorse to solve a minor chinkin the armour, hence thismove is more likely tobear the desired fruits.Both moves imply thatthe respective managesaren’t going to delve intothe club’s exchequer –and since United’s fix ismore long term, the pic-ture looks pretty gloomyfor them. This two-monthloan deal is going to workwonders for Arsenal, andthe youngsters would begaining invaluableexperience fromthe man whowas the corner-stone of theclub’s illustri-ous past.

LIVeRPooL’S PRoBLeM

Liverpool’s achievements thisseason – whatever little they

might be – have been formedon the foundation of a

solid defensive dis-play. Their winover City in theCarling Cup firstleg – the seconds u c c e s s i v ehome defeat forthe league lead-ers in 2012,after going theentire 2011 un-beaten at home

– was againbased on a soliddefensive show.

While City’s prob-lems are coming to

the fore as the seasonunfolds, Liverpool’s lackof goals has been a prob-

lem throughout the sea-son. And it doesn’t looklike they’d be taking aplunge into the market.With Chelsea, Arsenaland Liverpool all vyingfor the coveted fourth

spot, if Liverpool cansolve their goal scoring rid-dle, they would do their

chance of ChampionsLeague qualification theworld of good! Consideringthe recent comeback trend;

Robbie Fowler anyone?

MELBOURNEAfP

World number one Caroline Wozni-acki could face French Open cham-pion Li Na in the quarter-finals of theAustralian Open following Friday'sdraw for the season-opening grandslam. The Danish top seed, whoseworld ranking is under threat fromPetra Kvitova, also has defendingchampion Kim Clijsters, third seedVictoria Azarenka and the dangerousAgnieszka Radwanska in her top halfof the women's singles draw.

Wozniacki is hunting a maidengrand slam title in Melbourne andopens her campaign against Aus-tralian Anastasia Rodionova.

Clijsters beat Li in last year's Aus-tralian Open final before the Chinese

star went on to take the French Openat Roland Garros, in the process mak-ing history as the first Asian grandslam winner. "For me playing Li Na inthe final last year was one of the funfinals and one of the best finals thatI've played so far in a grand slam," Cli-jsters said at the draw.

"It was a really tough match, weboth played well in a close match andwinning it gave me a lot of confidenceand I was able to show the people heremy best level and fight for it and therewere a lot of emotions involved.

"For Li Na there was a lot of out-side pressure from her country and alot of expectations and I was happy tosee her do well in Europe in the sum-mer." Li plays Ksenia Pervak of Kaza-khstan in her opening match.

Wimbledon champion Kvitova,beaten by Li in Thursday's semi-finalsof the Sydney International, will facetough opponents as she targets Openglory. Thirteen-time grand slamchampion Serena Williams, US Openchampion Samantha Stosur andthree-time major winner MariaSharapova all share the Czech left-hander's bottom half of the draw.

Kvitova will open against RussianVera Dushevina, while five-time Aus-tralian Open champion Williams,seeded 12 this year, takes on AustrianTamira Paszek first up.

"It's definitely something that haschanged over the last few years," Cli-jsters said of the many potential win-ners in this year's women's field.

"I remember when I was youngereverybody was already pencilling inthe top seeds, quarter-finals, semi-fi-nals, and that's totally different now.

"It's a different mindset for a lot ofthe top players. You have to focus onthe first round onwards because newplayers, players that I've never playedagainst before, can cause upsets." Sto-sur, drawn to face Kvitova in the quar-ter-finals and bidding to become thefirst Australian woman to win her na-tional Open since 1978, begins againstRomania's Sorana Cirstea. Russia'sSharapova, who won in Melbournefour years ago, plays Argentina'sGisela Dulko in the first round.

MELBOURNEAfP

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadalare in the same half of a grandslam for the first time in sevenyears after the draw made Fridayfor next week's Australian Open inMelbourne.

Defending champion NovakDjokovic has world number fourAndy Murray in the top half of themen's singles draw, while Nadaland Federer, second and thirdranked respectively, were placedfor the bottom half. It is the first

time since the 2005 French Openthat 16-time grand slam championFederer and 10-time major winnerNadal have been pitted in thesame half of a grand slam draw.

The draw means that if theyprogress, the quartet will meet inthe last four with Djokovic andMurray on collision course andFederer and Nadal eyeing asemi-final clash. Djokovic, whowon three of the four grandslams and five Masters titles in aremarkable 2011, begins his Aus-tralian Open title defence againstItaly's Paolo Lorenzi.

Wozniacki getstough draw atAustralian Open

PErTH: ryan Harris (2nd r)

of Australia celebrates after

taking the wicket of Sachin

Tendulkar (r) of India during

their third Test. ReUTeRS

Federer, nadal in same half of Australian open draw

EPL CRYSTAL BALL

KUNWAR KHULDUNE SHAHID

Inspirational comebacks or sheer desperation?


Sports 21Saturday, 14 January, 2012

WaTCh IT LIvE

STAR SPORTS ATP - HeinekenOpen 2012 08:00PM

STAR CRICKET Australia vs India3rd Test, Day 208:00AM

SYDNEYAfP

vICTORIA Azarenkaended Li Na's unbeatentwo-year run at the Syd-ney International with afighting three-set victory

in the final on Friday. The Belarusianthird seed claimed her ninth careerWTA title with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victoryover the fourth seeded Chinese star inone hour 56 minutes at Ken RosewallArena. French Open champion Li wason a nine-match winning run in Sydneyafter beating Kim Clijsters in last year'sfinal, but was edged out by Azarenka,who ranks third in the world behindCaroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova.

It capped a big week for 22-year-old Azarenka with victories over JelenaJankovic, Marion Bartoli, AgnieszkaRadwanska and Li ahead of Monday'sAustralian Open in Melbourne. "Itbrings a lot of confidence," Azarenkasaid. "But it's going to be a new week, anew tournament, so for me it's going tobe starting from zero. "I'm glad the way

I played here through those battles thatI went through, so I really tested myselfbefore a big event.

"I'm just going to try to keep goingthe same way with the same attitude,the same way I'm playing." Despite hervictory Azarenka will remain at num-ber three in the world, while Li is ex-pected to drop one place to sixthbehind Australian Samantha Stosurwhen the next rankings are releasedon Monday. Azarenka is among sixplayers with a chance of reaching thetop spot depending on results at theyear's opening grand slam tournamentin Melbourne. In three trips to Aus-tralia Li has compiled a 21-4 record,highlighted by a semi-final appearanceat the 2010 Australian Open, her run-ner-up finish to Clijsters at last year'sOpen, her Sydney win last year and therun to this week's final. Li, who beatKvitova in Thursday's Sydney semis,heads to Melbourne in form after a dipin the second half of last year followingher landmark French Open success,which saw her become the first Asianto win a grand slam title.

Azarenka endsLi’s winningrun in Sydney

LONDONAfP

English cricket chiefs have offered anamnesty to players to report pastmatch-fixing approaches after formerEssex bowler Mervyn Westfieldpleaded guilty to spot-fixing at theOld Bailey. Westfield, 23, the firstplayer to admit to a corruptioncharge in a county match, entered aguilty plea to charges of accepting orobtaining a corrupt payment to bowlin a way that would allow the scoring

of runs. He received £6,000 ($9,199)to bowl so that 12 runs would bescored in the first over of a matchagainst Durham in September 2009,although in fact only 10 were scored.A separate charge of assisting an-other person to cheat at gamblingwas ordered to lie on file. Westfield,who will be sentenced on February10, was told by Judge Anthony Morrison Thursday: "It's open to the courtin this case to pass an immediate cus-todial sentence."

Morris added the name of the

other party involved in the dealwould be known to cricket fans, but itwas not revealed in court. An interna-tional cricketer was arrested along-side Westfield but later releasedwithout charge. It is already an of-fence under England and WalesCricket Board (ECB) regulations forplayers to fail to report approachesrelated to corrupt activities. But thegoverning body, at a meeting Thurs-day, established a "window" untilApril 30 whereby players can reportprevious approaches without the

threat of ECB punishment.Chris Watts, information manager

to the ECB's Anti-Corruption Com-mission for Education, Standards andSecurity (ACCESS), said: "Informa-tion is critical in addressing the threatposed by corruption in sport. "Indi-viduals may not have thought theseapproaches were worthy of reportingat the time and, prior to the decisionof the board, may have been con-cerned that the fact that they did notreport such activity may have putthem at risk of disciplinary action."

Hockey coaching clinic from 17th LAHORE

StAff RePoRt

The Pakistan Hockey Federation as a part of its development plan to groom male andfemale coaches at national level, is holding a coaching clinic at National Hockey Sta-dium Lahore from January 17 to 21.The coaches will get full knowledge in the field on the sidelines of the 31st National Jun-ior Hockey Championship, which is in progress at NHS Lahore. Khawaja Muhammad Ju-naid will be the Course Conductor and Rana Mujahid Ali will be the Coordinator.The PHF has invited following coaches for the Clinic: Ajmal Khan Lodhi, Shahid AliKhan, Danish Kaleem, Ahmed Alam, Anjum Saeed, Jan Muhammad, Dilawar Hussain,Muhammad Ali, Khawar Javaid, Rahim Khan, Mubasshir Mukhtar, Rana Zaheer Ahmed,Sabir ALI, Farooq Khan, Mumtaz Haider, Muhammad Akhlaque, Abuzar Umrao, MajorTariq Ahmed, Masood-ur-Rehman, Muhammad Shafqat , Muhammad Usman, Muham-mad Aslam Roda, Rana Asif, Yasir Khurshid, Mujahid Afzal, Muhammad Riasat, Muham-mad Asif, Ms. Beenish, Ms. Saman Islam, Ms. Chand Parveen & Ms. Humaira Mughal.

Professional cricketers have actuallypractised match-fixing and score manip-ulation for years – in benefit games.

Most will have played matches fortheir county against local club or villagesides in which it is taken as read that theprofessional batsmen will get out whenthey have struck a few decent blows andthe bowlers will give away some runs,usually to ensure a tight finish.

I often bowled the last over in suchmatches with, say, eight runs to win, afairly hopeless club tailender on strikeand the unstated challenge to take thematch to the last ball. Mostly I succeeded.

Bowlers inadvertently practise it inthe nets too. Often at the end of a trainingsession, a batsman will ask a colleague tobowl him some half-volleys or short balls

to hone a particular shot. This he willwillingly and effectively do.

For a professional bowler it is fairlyeasy to offer a decent batsman runs. Hewill have fairly good control of his lineand length and, on a flat pitch andagainst a good striker of the ball, thereis not much margin of error anyway. Adelivery slightly over pitched will be ea-gerly seized on and anything wide of offstump in one-day cricket is a licence toprint runs. It will be thrashed to theboundary. Such is the intensity of pro-fessional sport that a journeymanbowler has to be only 10 per cent or sooff his game to offer easy pickings. If afast bowler wanted to deliberately givea batsman runs, he wouldn’t have to doit conspicuously. He would merely haveto throttle back in pace a fraction andlook to drop slightly short or aim atouch wide. The lack of venom in the de-livery would be enough for the batsman

to quickly seize on it.Also umpires are notoriously strict

on wides in one-day cricket. He wouldonly have to slip one a fraction downthe leg side to concede an extra andhave to bowl the ball again. If you hadseen Mervyn Westfield’s offending overlive, you would have concluded that itwas just a youngish bowler trying tofind his bearings early in a spell. Noneof the deliveries except the third – avery wide ball outside off stump –would have been considered especiallybad. Ian Blackwell left the first two andthey sailed through innocuously to thekeeper. The third was signalled wide,the fourth was only a little short but of-fered inviting width and was thumpedto the extra-cover boundary. The fifthwas straight and penetrative and wasdefended, the sixth was fuller but againwide enough of off stump to allow thebatsman some freedom and was driven

crisply through the covers, the last wassliced for a single.

I can remember bowling similarlyunthreatening overs at the start of amatch without it causing great conster-nation. Now we know what Westfieldwas up to, the over has a different com-plexion. He knew that Blackwell was aclean striker of the ball through the offside and that he had little protection onthat boundary. It was fairly simple toerr consistently a little too far outsideoff and give Blackwell the scope to clubit to the unprotected boundary. Therewere no glaring long hops, hit-me fulltosses or clubbable slower balls.

It is much easier for a bowler to in-dulge in spot-fixing than a batsman.But if team ethics and personal pride donot deter the would-be fixer from send-ing down some calculated dross, thenthe humiliation suffered by the haplessWestfield surely will.

Kaneria might getone leg dragged inwestfield case: latif

LAHOREStAff RePoRt

The latest case of the spot-fixing in theEnglish county circuit, where Essex fastbowler Mervin Westfield pleaded guiltyof spot-fixing, is a reminder of the 2010episode after which three Pakistani crick-eters – Salman Butt, Muhammad Asifand Muhammad Amir – not onlybanned, but later were jailed as well. Thefate of Westfield would be decided onFebruary 10, but former Pakistan captainRashid Latif feared that leg-spinnerKaneria would be further dragged in thecase. “I have a strong feeling that theywould allege it was Kaneria who cor-rupted Westfield, as it was said in thecase of Muhammad Amir during the eye-catching probe against three Pakistanicricketers”, said Latif said“I don’t think Kaneria would be sen-tenced but even though he may be sus-pected of having had a role, which wouldbe enough to ruin his career”, added Latifwho is considered as the whistle bloweron match-fixing in the mid 90s.Mervyn Westfield, the former Essexbowler, has become the first Englishcricketer to be convicted of spot-fixingafter pleading guilty at the Old Bailey,London's central criminal court, to crimi-nal charges arising from a spot-fixing in-vestigation by Essex police. He pleadedguilty of accepting £6000 to concede 12runs in his first over of Essex's Pro40 en-counter against Durham in September2009. Westfield could face a maximumjail term of seven years.Although Westfield’s teammate, DanishKaneria was also originally alleged tohave been involved, but was later re-leased by the Essex police after thoroughquestioning in May 2010. The police didnot find enough evidence to prosecuteKaneria and released him from his bailconditions with "no further action".

ECB offers amnesty to match-fixer WestfieldFixers should be comingout in a cold sweat This is the bestmethod of preven-tion because theWestfield case andthat of the Pak-istani playersshows you cannotget away with spot-fixing anymore. Itis a clear messageto tell young play-ers that anyone thinking about doing this will faceprison if they are caught. The county game is vulnerablebecause it is shown on television in India. I think it hasbeen happening for a while in county cricket but Iwould be amazed if anything has gone on since this casecame to light. Having said that there may be a numberof players who had a cold sweat when they heard thenews on Thursday. I hope that is the case too because ifthey have done anything they deserve to be punished.Mervyn Westfield deserves to be punished, too, and Idon’t feel sorry for him because he could have said nobut somewhere out there is another person who has alot to answer for. He did not do this alone and some-body else ruined a young bloke’s career. We know in thecounty game there is not an Anti-Corruption Unit set upwhich is as stringent as the one in international cricket.Players are told not to take their phones into the dress-ing room but I have seen it happen. It is impossible topolice. I have heard discussions about dodgy thingsplayers have thought they have seen. This case has alsoshown that we can’t just shrug our shoulders and say itis a problem only in the sub-continent. Our game is vul-nerable too. If you can turn on a TV and see a game ofcricket then you know that match could be vulnerable.

eXPeRt CoMMeNt

MICHAEl VAuGHAnit is easy for a professional to deliver a spot-fix over

SIMON HUGHES

CommEnT

Fastest centuries in Test cricketTen fastest test centuries after Australian opener David Warner hit a69-ball ton in the third test against India on Friday:Deliveries, player, team, opposition, date, venue56 - Viv Richards (West Indies) v England 1986 St John's57 - Adam Gilchrist (Australia) v England 2006 Perth67 - Jack Gregory (Australia) v South Africa 1921 Johannesburg69 - S Chanderpaul (West Indies) v Australia 2003 Georgetown 69 - David Warner (Australia) v India 2012 Perth70 - Chris Gayle (West Indies) v Australia 2010 Perth71 - Roy Fredericks (West Indies) v Australia 1975 Perth 74 - Majid Khan (Pakistan) v New Zealand 1976 Karachi 74 - Kapil Dev (India) v Sri Lanka 1986 Kanpur 74 - Mohd Azharuddin (India) v South Africa 1996 Kolkata

ReuteRS


Published by Arif Nizami for Nawa Media Corporation (Pvt) Ltd at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore.

Saturday, 14 January, 2012 22

ISLAMABADShAIq huSSAIN

AGAINST the backdrop of sim-mering tensions between thecivilian rulers and the army,the Defence Committee of theCabinet (DCC) will hold its cru-

cial meeting today (Saturday) with PrimeMinister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the chairand army chief General Ashfaq Kayani alsoparticipating along with other serviceschiefs to ponder over the “memogate”, thathas generated grave political crisis and ledto confrontation between the government,army and judiciary.

The meeting of the DCC has beenseemingly convened to deliberate upon an-

other vital issue of stalled Pakistan-UnitedStates relations and especially the recom-mendations made by the Special Parlia-mentary Committee on National Securityon how to revise the ties with Washington,but it would focus mostly on the “mem-ogate”. The issue is now in the SupremeCourt but serious differences have oc-curred between the government, army andthe judiciary owing to civilian rulers’ resortto dub the so-called secret letter as inau-thentic, military leaders calling it a real andgenuine letter and the apex court frus-trated over the civilian authorities’ refusalto accept courts’ jurisdiction over the gravematter. The situation became worse, how-ever, on Wednesday when the prime min-ister fired defence secretary Lt General

Khalid Naeem Lodhi for not following therules and regulations while sending thereplies of the army chief and ISI DG to theapex court on the memo issue.

Before that, the PM said in an inter-view with a Chinese news agency that thearmy chief’s and ISI DG’s replies to thecourt were illegal and against the constitu-tion. The army also came up with a strong-worded statement expressing annoyanceover the PM’s interview and also declaringthat the replies of top military leaders werein accordance with the law.

The DCC meeting on Saturday is thefirst gathering of civilian and military lead-ers after the escalation of civil-military ten-sions on Wednesday. One of thegovernment’s allied parties, the Awami

National Party also tabled a resolution inthe National Assembly on Friday seekingsupport for the government in the face ofits standoff with the army and it would bevoted upon on Monday. “The prime minis-ter is likely to use the opportunity that hehas in the form of DCC meeting to iron outthe government’s differences with the mil-itary, but owing to the serious nature ofconflicting issues, it is highly unlikely thathe will have success in this regard,” said asecurity official seeking anonymity.

He said the army leadership was ofstrong opinion that the “memo issue”would have to be settled by the apex courtand they were in no mood to allow anyother forum for the purpose, including theDCC. Some observers, however, look at

the vital DCC meeting differently, sayingthe forum could be used to lower the ten-sions to some extent and it was a good op-portunity for the government and for theprime minister.

“The DCC meeting could help lessenthe civil-military tensions but that de-pends on the tone that the prime ministerwould use in the meeting. If he (PrimeMinister) opts for conciliatory tone anddisposition, it will lessen the tensions andease the situation to some extent if notending the standoff altogether,” saidnoted analyst Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi.“However, if the prime minister opts forthe other way round and lodges com-plaints only during the meeting, the DCCwill certainly not help his case,” he said.


An unexpected shock for the already embat-tled Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani camefrom the attorney general on Friday when hedisputed the premier’s statement, telling re-porters at the apex court building that thearmy chief and Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) director general (DG) had submittedtheir replies following the rules of business.

Haq said further that linking the submissionof a reply or a letter by the former defence secretaryto the statements of the two army generals was notcorrect. Meanwhile, after Chief Justice IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry turned down the attorneygeneral’s request for a rescheduling on account ofsimultaneous appearances before the judicial com-mission probing the memogate scandal as well asthe Supreme Court on Monday, Haq decided onFriday to appear in the apex court, being a higherforum, instead of the judicial commission.

The attorney general decided this aftermeeting Akram Sheikh, the counsel for Pak-istan-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz,the central character in the memo case. Haqand Sheikh met to file a joint application be-fore the head of the judicial commission to ex-tend the date of hearing, keeping in view theengagement of the attorney general in theSupreme Court on Monday.

According to Haq, he would prefer to ap-pear in the SC instead of the judicial commis-sion. However, he said he would think about it

more. He said the government would requestthe SC not to apply any of the six options it hadlaid out in the National Reconciliation Ordi-nance (NRO) case.

The commission will hear the memogatecase at the Islamabad High Court on Mondayand on the same day, the apex court will takeup the case about the government’s failure toimplement its NRO verdict. The attorney gen-eral was summoned for both cases, therefore,he had requested the chief justice to adjust thehearing of the two matters, which the chief jus-tice turned down. This will be at the same timewhen the attorney general is supposed to ap-pear before the three-judge judicial commis-sion constituted under orders from theSupreme Court to investigate the veracity of thecontroversial memorandum, which sparked acontroversy in the country.


President Asif Ali Zardari andPrime Minister Yousaf RazaGilani on Friday discussed thecurrent political issuesconfronting the government,including the implementation ofthe Supreme Court’s order inthe NRO implementation case.Gilani went straight to thePresidency after reachingIslamabad where the twodiscussed the current situation.The government is facing legalchallenges, particularly theimplementation on some partsof the SC order in the NRO casewhich included writing a letterto the Swiss authorities forreopening of cases against thepresident. According to sources,both leaders discussed thestrategy for January 16 hearingin the NRO implementationcase in the SC. They said thememo controversy also cameunder discussion during themeeting. The DefenceCommittee of the Cabinet(DCC) is also holding its crucialmeeting today (Saturday),which will be chaired by theprime minister. COAS GeneralAshfaq Kayani will also attendthe meeting along with otherservices chiefs. The sources saidboth the leaders also developeda strategy as to how to goforward on the issue after thecommittee meeting.

8 soldierskilled, 9 injuredin three attacks

PESHAWARStAff RePoRt

At least eight security forcespersonnel were killed andnine others were injured inseparate terrorist attacks inPeshawar, South Waziristanand Tank during the last 24hours.Officials claimedsecurity forces had killedseven militants, including twonotorious commanders, andarrested another in retaliatoryaction. Reportedly, dozens ofarmed militants had attackeda checkpost of security forceson Bara Road at Sarband,near Peshawar, at midnighton Thursday. The attack leftthree soldiers dead and nineinjured. Those killed includedtwo policemen and oneparamilitary soldier. Soonafter the attack began,contingents of security forcesrushed to the site to providebackup. The clash continuedfor around half an hour.Officials also said a group ofmilitants had attacked acheckpost in Sararogha,South Waziristan, and killedfour personnel. Securityforces said they had killed amilitant in retaliatory action.A third attack occurred in theSarghai area of Tank late onThursday night when a groupof militants attacked aFrontier Constabularycheckpost. A paramilitarysoldier was killed in the fighting.

ISLAMABAD: PML-N President Nawaz Sharif discusses the opposition’s future strategy with politicians, including fazlurRehman, qazi hussain Ahmed and Mehmood Khan Achakzai on friday. AFP

Gilani, Kayani to meet over memogate todayg Analysts believe PM has prime opportunity to ease tensions with military establishment in meeting of DCC

army chief, iSi dGfollowed rules: aGg Haq says linking submission of a reply or letter by formerdefence secy to statements of army generals not correct

zardari and Gilani exchange notes

PM, UK deny ‘SOS’ call MONITORING DESK

British and Pakistani officials denied a newsreport that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilanicontacted the British High Commission in a“panicky” phone call to express fears that amilitary coup was imminent in the country,the Cable News Network (CNN) reported onFriday. CNN said that in a story published onFriday citing anonymous sources, theAssociated Press (AP) reported that the primeminister asked British High CommissionerAdam Thomson for “Britain to support hisembattled government”. Whether Britain tookany action was unclear, AP reported. “This isabsolutely an incorrect report; the primeminister hasn’t spoken to the highcommissioner of UK on this subject,” Gilani’sspokesman Akram Shaheedi told CNN onFriday. “Democratic government led by theprime minister derives its strength from thepeople of Pakistan - not from any foreignpower,” CNN quoted him as saying. Thespokesman for the High Commission also saidthe call never took place and that thecommission asked AP to print a retraction. APdid not immediately respond to calls and e-mails on the issue, said CNN. The call, whichone official said was “panicky”, suggestedthere was a genuine fear at the highest level ofthe Pakistani government that the army mightcarry out a coup or support possible moves bythe Supreme Court to topple the civilianleadership, said AP. In a BBC radio interview,British Foreign Secretary William Hagueexpressed doubts about any return to the daysof coups as that would damage Pakistan’sstruggling economy and image.


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