Monday, 20 May, 2013 Rajab 9, 1434Rs 17.00 Vol III No 323 19 Pages Lahore Edition

MQM condeMnsKhan’s ‘hate speech’, vows protest

story on page 02story on page 03

IMran Khan urgesfollowers to protest

agaInst atrocItIes,Zahra’s Murder

IMran Khan urgesfollowers to protest

agaInst atrocItIes,Zahra’s Murder

Bill gates is the world’srichest man for first time since 2007 He may only work part time, but Bill Gates has

become the world’s richest man for a second time

thanks to a nest egg of shrewd financial investments

- and a little help from the Mexican government,

according to Mail Online. The software mogul

snatched the title from Mexican mobile phone tycoon

Carlos Slim yesterday after Bloomberg revealed his

personal fortune had blossomed to an eye-watering

$72.7billion

shahbaz, achakzai discuss post-electionBalochistan scenarioPakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Shahbaz Sharif met

Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai in

Quetta on Sunday and discussed issues relating to formation of

the next government in Balochistan. Talking to reporters after the

meeting, Shahbaz said the next chief minister of Balochistan

would be finalised after mutual consultations. He said the PML-N

had struck an alliance with the PkMAP and the National Party

(NP), and together they would form the government and redress

the grievances of the people of the province.

scotland yard probesMQM chief over inflammatory speechThe Scotland Yard is investigating complaints from

Pakistan that Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf

Hussain made an inflammatory speech in the aftermath

of the May 11 election results, reports said. According to

the Sunday Telegraph, Hussain’s role in pulling strings in

Pakistan through his political headquarters on Edgware

High Street in London came into focus again after

cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s party leader

Zahra Yousuf Shahid was shot dead last night in Karachi.

Re-polling in nA-250, pS-112, pS-113

story on page 04

story on page 03

ptI leader’s Murder forces voters to reMaIn IndoorsptI leader’s Murder forces voters to reMaIn Indoors

ptI’s alvI declred unoffIcIal wInner

agitated MQM workersbeat up their leaders?

story on page 04

story on page 08 story on page 03 story on page 09

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:36 AM Page 1

LONDONONlINE

British Prime Minister David Cameronhas taken notice of the protest demonstra-tion staged by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) outside 10 Downing Streetagainst Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) chief Altaf hussain’s controver-sial telephonic addresses in Pakistan.

The British prime minister keptwatching the protesters for five minutesand soon afterwards, mobilised his staff torecord the concerns of the protesters. Re-sponding to the call of the PTI, hundredsof demonstrators staged a protest againstAltaf’s telephonic speeches in Pakistan.

As many as 1,500 PTI and JI support-ers and other demonstrators gathered at10 Downing Street. They claimed thatAltaf had threatened anti-vote riggingdemonstrators in Karachi with dire con-sequences during a telephonic speech.

PTI London President ShahabazKhan said the protest was organised to de-mand the British government arrestMQM chief Altaf hussain “for incitingviolence from British soil, threatening andterrorising peaceful protesters in Karachias well as threatening to break Pakistanup”. he said the PTI's senior leadershipand members were continuously threat-ened by the MQM workers on behest oftheir chief for peacefully protesting andchallenging election results.

“We bring this to the PM's atten-tion that if anything happens to PTIleaders or members, Altaf hussainwill be directly responsible for it,”adding that the same happened onSaturday night when the MQMterrorists gunned down the PTIvice chairman in Karachi. hesaid the MQM chief was di-rectly involved in the killing ofPTI leaders in Karachi.

British pM takes notice of ptI protest in london

eCP To noTIfywInnIng CAndIdATeson MAy 22

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission

of Pakistan will issue an official

notification of successful candidates in

the May 11 general elections on May 22.

The ECP has asked independent

candidates, who remained successful in

the elections, to submit a certificate to

concerned district returning officer

regarding their affiliation with any

political party by May 25. All newly-

elected MNAs and MPAs have been

directed to present their details of

election expenditures along with bank

statement of National Bank account,

specifically maintained for electioneering

purpose by May 21, failing which their

notification would not be issued.

According to constitution, a candidate

will submit his detail of expenditure to

the ECP within 10 days of elections,

whereas the independent candidates are

either required to join any political party

in the parliament or retain his

independent status after three days of

issuance of the notification. ONlINE

PM suMMonsMeeTIng over loAdsHeddIng CrIsIs

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister

Mir Hazar Khan Khoso will be chairing an

important meeting regarding the severe

electricity crisis today (Monday).

According to details, the meeting will see

the participation of authorities of Ministry

of Water and Power. This meeting was

summoned in the wake of increased

protests by masses over continuous rise

in load shedding along with rising

temperatures this summer. The Ministry

of Petroleum has already warned of

paucity of any further revenue with

Pakistan State Oil (PSO) to pay for

furnace oil, reserves of which are very

low. PSO has been known to have

demanded an immediate payment of Rs

15 billion from Finance Ministry to enable

purchase of oil. Masses would be eyeing

the meeting with fervent hopes that this

meeting would be helpful in resolving

some long standing solutions, while

various steps regarding preservation of

electricity could also be mulled. ONlINE

NMonday, 20 May, 2013

02

news

PTI worKerTorTured In dHA

LAHORERANA HAIDER

Defence housing Authority (DhA)residential association and propertydealers protested against the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) sit-in, which hasbeen going on for several days now,where some protesters tortured a PTIworker, injuring him severely onSunday. Per reports, the PTI sit-inagainst alleging rigging in NA-125 andother constituencies of Lahore nearLalik Chowk has been underway foraround eight days. Residents of thearea who had been facing difficultiesdue to blockage of roads and trafficjams decided to register their ownprotest at Masjid Chowk in DhA.While both protests were underway, agroup of PTI activists went to MasjidChowk and raised slogans. Meanwhile,a PTI activist was cornered by DhAresidents who tortured him. eventually,the police was able to get the PTIactivist away from the area.

KARACHISTAFF REPORT/AGENCIES

The post-election war of wordsbetween the Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) and PakistanTehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) is set tointensify as the former announced

holding “peaceful” protest demonstrationsin and outside Pakistan against “baseless”accusations hurled by Imran Khan over themurder of senior party leader.

Khan on Saturday night pointed a fingerat the MQM chief and the British govern-ment who he said were “directly responsible”for the murder of his female party workeroutside her house in DhA. The MQM’sstatement, announced by party’s RabitaCommittee Deputy Convenor Dr Farooq Sat-tar, came in response to Saturday’s allegationof the PTI chief. Reacting to Saturday’s tiradeof PTI chief, Dr Sattar said his party wouldhold protest demonstrations in and outsidePakistan to record its “peaceful” protestagainst the baseless allegations the PTI chiefthat he had hurriedly levelled against his partychief following assassination of “Zahra Apa”.

“MQM Rabita Committee has decidedto wage peaceful protest demonstrations inand outside Pakistan against the intoleranceshown by Imran Khan that hurt the feelingsof millions of supporters of Altaf hussain,”he told reporters at Nine Zero. LegaL options: Legal experts ofMQM, he said, were also weighing variousoptions to move against Khan. “We con-demn the brutal murder of Zahra Shahidhussain, but Imran Khan’s jumping to theconclusions without waiting for initial find-ings lays bare his political immaturity.Khan’s statement would undermine theprobe into the murder. Also his remarks aretantamount to provocation,” Sattar added.

earlier, dozens of MQM supportersgathered at Ayesha Manzil to stage a sit-in

in favour of Altaf hussain, who they saidwas the only true leader of the nation.

The protesters, holding MQM’s partyflags and placards, demanded Khan ten-der an apology for baselessly accusingtheir leader for Zohra’s murder. “Weprotest against the statement of Khan,”read a placard. Sattar also said the accu-sations levelled by PTI Chairman ImranKhan against the MQM and its chief Altafhussain came even before complete de-tails of the murder incident had becameknown. “We will protest against Khan’shateful comments by peacefully demon-strating in Pakistan and abroad. We willexplore our democratic options to protest

and won’t respond hate-filled commentswith hate,” Sattar added.

“Imran Khan has blamed us forspreading terror in Karachi. If we didn’tknow any better, we’d also be gettingblamed for Imran Khan’s accident.”

Sattar condemned Zahra Shahid’smurder and demanded an early arrest ofculprits. he urged all the political partiesto avoid issuing such statements and towork jointly for the uplift of the country.Farooq warned that such statement couldaffect Karachi’s law and order situation.Hyderabad vioLence: Mean-while, unknown gunmen attacked thehouse of PTI leader Usman Kennedy and

set his two vehicles on fire. There werealso reports of heavy firing in Latifabad,hyderabad Chowk, Paka Qila, StationRoad and other areas. Unidentified menalso resorted to aerial firing in hyderabadearly on Sunday, causing fear and tensionin the city.

MQM condemns Khan’s ‘hatespeech’, vows protest

fARooq SAttAR SAyS pARty to hold peAcefulpRoteStS in And outSide pAKiStAn

All legAl optionS beingconSideRed AgAinSt pti chief

pRoteStS held in KARAchi,tenSion pRevAilS in hydeRAbAd

Stop preSSThe MQM has served a defamation

notice on PTI chief Imran Khan worth

Rs 50 billion following Imran’s

statement in which he accused Altaf

Hussain of being responsible for the

murder of Zahra Shahid Hussain.

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:36 AM Page 2

news N

03

Monday, 20 May, 2013

MeeTIng beTween nAwAz,zArdArI lIKely on MAy 22ISLAMABAD: PML-N

president and prime

minister in waiting

Nawaz Sharif has

accepted President Asif

Ali Zardari’s 22nd May

invitation to attend the

reception hosted for

visiting Chinese PM.

This acceptance would

be marking the already

auspicious event, with another memorable occasion of first

informal, meeting between two leaders after the elections.

PML-N sources have indicated that despite being informal,

the talks would still entail deliberations over important

National matters, which would definitely include the most

impending issue of transfer of power. Nawaz would also be

raising the issue of high-level appointments, during which

he would be stressing over resignation of NAB (National

Accountability Bureau’s) chief Admiral (r) Fasih Bukhari for

his indictment in subjudice case of contempt of court.

Currently the NAB chief is also pursuing references against

the Sharif Brothers, and any new appointment would

simply shelve these references into cold storage.

Meanwhile, former CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif has

expressed his strong reservations over some

appointments, which were ‘clarified’ by president’s

spokesman Farhatullah Babar as being made by the

caretaker government. “With President Zardari having no

role in the appointments, Shahbaz Sharif should desist

from any blame-game,” he had said. ONlINE

sCoTlAnd yArd ProbesMQM CHIef overInflAMMATory sPeeCH

MONItORINg DEsK

The Scotland Yard is investigating complaints from

Pakistan that Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf

Hussain made an inflammatory speech in the aftermath of

the May 11 election results, reports said. According to the

Sunday Telegraph, Hussain's role in pulling strings in

Pakistan through his political headquarters on Edgware

High Street in London came into focus again after

cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's party leader Zara

Yousuf Shahid was shot dead last night in Karachi. Imran

has blamed Hussain for the murder of Shahid. During a

speech, Hussain also appeared to threaten protesters and

suggested Karachi should be separated from Pakistan if

the party's electoral mandate was questioned. Tensions

have been running high after Khan's PTI accused the MQM

of widespread vote-rigging. Hussain rebutted complaints

that the MQM had rigged elections. The MQM has denied

the charge and boycotted Sunday's re-run of elections in

43 polling stations in Karachi's NA-250 constituency.

QuresHI deMAnds ProbeInTo zAHrA sHAHId’s KIllIngKArACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah

Mehmood Qureshi demanded a thorough probe into the

killing of Zahra Shahid Hussain in Karachi. Qureshi

reached Karachi immediately after killing of the PTI

leader in Karachi’s Defense Housing Authority (DHA).

While talking to media at Karachi Airport, he said he saw

a change in the politics of the metropolis since the

people had raised a voice for PTI, despite difficult

conditions. Qureshi paid tribute to all local residents who

had cast their votes for PTI in Karachi. “Zahra Shahid’s

murder is very saddening and a transparent investigation

should be launched over the incident,” demanded

Qureshi on the occasion. NNI

LAHOREAGENCIES

PAKISTAN Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) Chairman ImranKhan on Sunday appealedto his party workers to standup against the brutalities,

come what may."Zahra Shahid hussain did not

lay down her life for nothing. her sac-rifice will not go in vain," said ImranKhan in a video message to PTIworkers from the hospital where he isrecovering from the injuries receivedin a fall at a pre-poll rally.

he announced that PTI wouldlaunch a protest movement against thecold-blooded murder of PTI leaderZahra Shahid hussain today (Monday).“(Protesting) is our democratic rightand we will be protesting in Karachi to-morrow,” he said, adding he himselfwould lead the demos in Karachi oncehe was out of the hospital.

"I regret that I would not be ableto join the protest demonstrations inKarachi right now, but hopefully I

will be rubbing shoulders with you assoon as doctors discharge me from thehospital," he said.

he invited people from all politi-cal parties to protest alongside thePTI. “The people of Karachi are re-sponsible for its future,” he said.

Imran had earlier held MuttahidaQaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altafhussain responsible for the death ofthe PTI leader who was shot outsideher house in Karachi late on Saturday.

Additionally, Imran said the partywould be demonstrating in front of theelection Commission of Pakistan(eCP), Islamabad office on Friday toprotest against the election rigging. headded that for the sake of the "contin-uance" of this democratic system, hewas not insisting upon a reelection.

“We will also be demonstratingtomorrow in all districts and head-quarters to register our protest overrigging… we don’t want to deraildemocracy. We just want everyone toknow what happened,” he said,adding, “I am not asking for a re-pollbecause I want this system to endure."

Going forward, the PTI chief saidKarachi was being controlled bymongering fear among people.

Separately, a private TVchannel reported thatImran Khan appealed tohis party workers in La-hore to end their sit-inprotests. he said that theparty would hold a full-fledged sit-in protest in Is-lamabad on May 24.

Speaking to media repre-sentatives at Lahore’s ShaukatKhanum hospital, Imran Khansaid the PTI workers wouldprotest on May 24 in which hewould also participate. he alsosaid that they would holda large demonstrationin London as well.

he pressed thechief justice ofPakistan to takenotice of the sit-uation inK a r a c h iwhere a

party was trying to control peoplethrough harassment.

Imran also urgedthe chief election

commissioner to ac-cept the demand

of recount incertain con-stituencies inorder to re-

store thecredibilityof the eCP.

Imran Khan tells workers tostand up against atrocities

pti chAiRmAn SAyS pARty will holdpRoteStS AgAinSt ZAhRA ShAhid'SmuRdeR in KARAchi todAy

pARty will pRoteSt AgAinStRigging outSide ecp office iniSlAmAbAd on fRidAy

AppeAlS to pARtywoRKeRS in lAhoRe toend Sit-in pRoteSt

KARACHIAGENCIES

No murder case has yet been registeredover the infamous and gruesome murder ofPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Karachileader Zahra Shahid hussain.

Post mortem reports on Sunday at theJinnah hospital indicated two close-rangebullets fired at the deceased PTI leader out-side her house on Saturday night. Accord-ing to medico legal officer Dr NasreenQamar, 60-year-old Zahra was shot at closerange with two 30-bore bullets, one ofwhich pierced her head via her jaw, whilethe other one hit close to her lower spine.Two missed bullets hit her home’s gate.

SSP Nasir Aftab announced that a first

information report (FIR) against her mur-der would be filed by the deceased’s kin,after legal counseling.

Meanwhile, Zahra Shahid hussains’funeral prayers were offered at SultanMasjid after Asar prayers on Sunday inKarachi. She was laid to rest at a graveyardin Defence. Some 1,000 mourners includ-ing hussain’s family members, friends,well wishers and party workers attendedher funeral. At least 200 party activists alsoheld a protest rally in Multan and con-demned hussain’s killing.

The PTI will take out protests overShahid’s killing in Karachi on Monday.

“Zohra hussain’s sacrifice will not gowaste,” PTI Chairman Imran Khan said.

The killing of hussain, who was vice

president of the women’s wing of PTI inSindh, came on the eve of a partial re-pollof the May 11 election.

Imran Khan was quick to pin the blame

on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) chief Altaf hussain.

“I hold Altaf hussain directly respon-sible for the murder as he had openlythreatened PTI workers and leadersthrough public broadcasts,” Khan said onhis Twitter feed, describing the killing as“a targeted act of terror”.

“I also hold the British government re-sponsible as I had warned them about Altafhussain after his open threats to kill PTIworkers,” he said, adding that he was“shocked and deeply saddened by the bru-tal killing”. Altaf hussain condemned theattack in a statement and demanded a “ju-dicial inquiry to get to the culprits”.

Firdous Shamim, a local PTI leader,said Zahra hussain “was leaving her home

for some work when three gunmen at-tacked her. She thought they wanted tosnatch her purse and handed it over to thembut they killed her despite that”.

Police said all three gunmen escapedafter the attack. The motive behind theshooting was unclear and there was no im-mediate claim of responsibility.

Tensions have been running high be-tween the PTI and the MQM, Karachi’sdominant party, after Khan’s party accusedit of widespread vote-rigging. The MQMhas denied the charge and announced aboycott of the re-run. Security was tight forSunday’s re-polling in NA-250 followingallegations of ballot-stuffing, with troops,police and paramilitary rangers backed upby armoured personnel carriers.

KARACHIAAMIR MAJEED

The overall turnout during re-polling at 43 pollingstations in NA-250 constituency on Sunday re-mained very low in the wake of the murder ofSindh Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Presi-dent Zahra Shahid hussain.

The other reason behind low turnout was theboycott of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM),the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) and the Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen(MWM). Security remained heightened but a lim-ited number of people dared to come out of theirhouses due to panic which gripped the area afterthe murder of PTI leader.

The eCP delivered election material on Satur-day night. The presiding officers received ballotpapers, ballot boxes, stamps, screen and other sta-tionery from the city court a day before re-pollingat 43 polling stations.

The ballot boxes and screens were transportedto the polling stations under the supervision of

Rangers, police and local administration. Twomembers of the court were deputed with each pre-siding officer carrying the material to the pollingstations under the supervision of law-enforcementagencies.

The polling stations which were flooded withvoters on May 11 were found deserted on May 19.On election Day, there were long queues, but onSunday polling stations wore a deserted look andvoters came in small numbers to cast their votes.

Turnout at Aysha Bawani School, where fourpolling stations were setup, remained very low. Thepolling stations were setup for Lines Area, BazirtaLines and other areas of South Zone but the peopleshowed apathy in coming out of their houses. Theguidelines which were issued by the eCP for May11 were followed on Sunday. No one was allowedto enter the polling station without CNIC and cellphones were also not allowed.

At least 5,000 security personnel, including600 army officials, were deployed at 43 polling sta-tions. According to security plan, 22 cops, eight to10 Rangers personnel and six to eight army offi-cials were deployed at every polling station.

Army officials were also deployed inside everypolling station to monitor the election process. Thearmy personnel were also deployed at every entryand exit points of DhA.

PMl-n lIKely TorePlACe ebAd AssIndH governorLaHore: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N), after getting a simple majority in theNational Assembly (NA) is all set to bring its ownsetup throughout the country, foremost amongstwhich would be replacing Sindh GovernorIshratul ebad, sources revealed. A report by aweb-based news agency said the Sharifs think it isimportant to replace the Sindh governor. PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP) governor in Punjab,

Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmud,has already resigned sayingthe new government shouldbring its own governor inthe province. SindhGovernor Dr Ishratulebad is likely to bereplaced by formergovernor Mamnoonhussain or SenatorMushahidullah Khan. The

move will be aimed athaving a strong

administrative gripin the province,where PPP andMQM haveemerged as theleading parties.AGENCIES

no case regIstered Into Zahra shahId’s KIllIng

File photo

ptI leader’s murder forcesvoters to remain indoors

ARmy mAKeS exemplARySecuRity ARRAngementS

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:36 AM Page 3

newsN

04

Monday, 20 May, 2013

KARACHIISMAIl DIlAWAR

PTI candidates Arif Alvi, Khur-ram Sher Zaman and Samar AliKhan were declared unofficialwinners in the re-polling held inNA-250, PS-112 and PS-113

constituencies of Karachi on Sunday. The day saw residents of NA-250, PS-

112 and PS-113 constituencies re-castingtheir votes in 43 out of 180 polling stationsof the above-mentioned constituencies in arelatively peaceful environment ensured bythe presence of army troops. The securityarrangements for the re-polling were water-tight as personnel from Pakistan Army,Pakistan Rangers and police were on highalert in and outside the polling stations to

deal with any untoward situation. The vote-counting for the said constituencies was un-derway until the filing of this report, withunofficial results showing PTI candidatesArif Alvi for NA-250, Khurram SherZaman for PS-112 and Samar Ali Khan forPS-113 leading the race.

Naimatullah Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami(JI), Khalid Iqbal of ANP and Saleem Zia ofPML-N appeared to be major competitorsagainst the PTI candidates in NA-250, PS-112and PS-113, respectively. By 9pm Sunday, re-sults of 26 out of 43 polling stations for NA-250 put Alvi in front with 8,522 votes,followed by Naimatullah Khan who bagged201 votes. Results for 11 out of 33 totalpolling stations of PS-113 put Samar havingbagged 2,403 votes against Zia’s 464. For PS-112, unofficial results for seven polling sta-

tions had so far come to the fore, with PTI’sZaman topping the list with 2,581 votes com-pared to 177 votes of ANP’s Khalid.

This was much in conformity with thewidely-held perception that the PTI, in theabsence of potential but boycotting con-tenders from MQM, PPP and Majlis Wah-datul Muslimeen (MWM), would be thehot favourite for sweeping Sunday’s re-polls in Clifton and Defence areas. MQMleader Farooq Sattar, however, condemnedwhat he called “fake, unjust and partial” re-polling in which average turnout was notmore than 10 to 15 percent. “Not more than10 percent people turned up to the fake re-polling. It means the residents of Cliftonand Defence also boycotted the election,”he claimed. This, he said, was despite thatfact that Sunday was a public holiday when

the voters were free to come out for ballot-ing that he said was a show of “nepotism”and “favouritism”. An eCP official, how-ever, said the turnout for Sunday’s partialre-polling could only be determined afterthe results were announced. he, however,had no idea when the results would offi-cially be made public. Visiting variouspolling stations earlier in the day, PTI’sleader Shah Mehmood Qureshi said hisside would react accordingly once a legalaction was taken by the MQM. he saidKarachiites had rid themselves of the fearunder which they were breathing hard foryears by coming out to vote despite the bru-tal killing of a PTI leader. he said the man-date of Karachi had changed in PTI’sfavour, a claim he said could materialise iffree and fair elections were held in the city.

IsLAMABADTAYYAB HUSSAIN

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ChairmanImran Khan is facing pressure from hisparty leaders of Mianwali and Rawalpindinot to vacate seats he won on May 11.

Imran Khan had won three NationalAssembly seats – NA-1 Peshawar, NA-56Rawalpindi and NA-71 Mianwali. he lostfrom NA-122 Lahore to PML-N’s AyazSadiq. however, the PTI leaders say thatKhan had made up his mind to keep NA-56 Rawalpindi while he would vacate NA-1 Peshawar and NA-71 Mianwali. Ifvacated, NA-1 would be a piece of cake asImran Khan’s party is set to form govern-ment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. however, itwould be a herculean task to re-capture ei-

ther of seats won from Punjab where therival party of the PTI – the PML-N isgoing to form a government with a two-thirds majority. “Though there is no offi-cial decision taken yet, but I understandthat Khan has made up his mind to vacateNA-71 and NA-1. he would keep NA-56which is a strategic decision,” said FaisalJaved Khan, PTI Deputy Secretary Infor-mation, while talking to Pakistan Today.

The decision to retain NA-56 is logicalas the PML-N would make all out effortsto reclaim the honour it had lost on May 11when Imran Khan had defeated hanif Ab-basi with a huge margin. Rawalpindi haslong been termed a fort of Nawaz Sharif.But the PTI turned tables on the PML-Ncandidates by making a clean-sweep inacross Rawalpindi on May 11. PTI

sources revealed that Ayla Malik, who hadcampaigned vigorously in absence ofImran Khan in Mianwali District, is nowputting pressure on Imran not to vacateNA-71 seat, because around a dozen PTIleaders would want to contest from there.

“As soon as Ayla heard that ImranKhan had made up his mind to vacate NA-71 Mianwali seat, she rushed to visit ImranKhan at Shaukat Khanum Memorial hos-pital just two days back and briefed him onthe situation in Mianwali – Imran Khan’shometown. She insisted Khan not to vacateNA-71. She said that that if Khan vacatesthis seat, they would lose this seat and assoon as Khan decides to vacate this seat,many aspirants would jump into the frayand those who would be denied the partyticket would contest as independents -

leaving the party disintegrated into manyfactions,” said a source privy to the discus-sions ongoing in the party hierarchy.

Imran Khan had bagged record votes onMay 11 as he clinched 132,283 votes as com-pared to Obaidullah Shadikhel’s 72,859. Thiswas a third consecutived defeat to Shadikhelsince 2002 polls. The source added thatthose who were aspirants for the seat in-cluded Jamal Ahsen Khan, Attaullah KhanIssakhelvi, Maj General (r) Rafiullah, Major(r) Rafiullah and Col (r) hassan Niazi. Mean-while, Jahangir Khan Tareen may also jumpinto the fray. “Imran Khan wants Ayla Malikto contest by-polls and she is the only onewho can clinch this seat. But being a woman,she is not confident as the traditional cultureof male chauvinism may not go well with hercandidature,” the source added.

WAsHINgtON SPECIAl CORRESPONDENT

President Barack Obama, facedwith international criticism over ex-cessive use of drone attacks anddelay in closure of Gitmo militaryprison, will deliver a speech onThursday to explain his administra-tion’s policy on bringing countert-errorism policies in line with legalframework.

According to the WashingtonPost, Obama will speak at the Na-tional Defense University with aWhite house official saying that hewould “discuss our broad counterter-rorism policy, including our military,diplomatic, intelligence and legal ef-forts.” In the speech, the official saidthe US president would frame the fu-ture of the government’s effortsagainst al Qaeda, its affiliates and ad-herents. The speech will be watchedclosely in Pakistan, where a newdemocratic government will shortlytake charge of Islamabad after the his-

toric May 11 polls. Pakistan’s main-stream political parties, including vic-torious Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N), voiced se-rious opposition to the controversialUS drone strikes in pursuit of sus-pected al Qaeda and other militantshiding in tribal areas along the Afghanborder. The US official told the paperthat Obama would review the state ofthe threats US faced, particularly asthe al Qaeda core had weakened.

“he will discuss the policy andlegal framework under which we takeaction against terrorist threats, includ-ing the use of drones. And he will re-view our detention policy and effortsto close the detention facility at Guan-tanamo Bay.” Into his second term,Obama said this year he would “con-tinue to engage the Congress to en-sure not only that targeting, detentionand prosecution of terrorists remainsconsistent with American laws andsystem of checks and balances, butthat efforts are even more transparentto the American people and to the

world.” The address will serve as asecond-term bookend to his NationalArchives speech in 2009, when he ar-gued that US national security inter-ests do not have to conflict with thecountry’s commitment to humanrights and the rule of law.

however, the newspaper notedthat since then, Obama had found itdifficult at times to balance his coun-terterrorism policies with the values hehad said were essential to restoring theUS image abroad. The speech alsocomes amid criticism over the JusticeDepartment’s move to secretly obtainthe phone records of Associated Pressjournalists as part of a federal investi-gation into national security leakswithin the administration. The reportsays although torture is no longer al-lowed in US, the military brig at Guan-tanamo still held 166 prisoners, morethan half of whom were on a hungerstrike to protest conditions. Obamasaid last month that he would try againto close Guantanamo, despite enduringcongressional opposition.

MONItORINg DEsK

MQM workers reportedlybeat up some members of theparty Rabita Committee onSunday following a tele-phonic address by Altaf hus-sain, in which he said theRabita Committee membersconsidered him a “machine”that delivered addresses anddid not keep him informedabout the ground realities.

Following the speech,party workers got infuriatedand asked media personnel toturn off the cameras. After-wards, the workers reportedlytook some members of theRabita Committee to task,even beating some of them up.

earlier in his speech, Altafsaid he had come to know ofhis value, as his “workers didnot listen to me”. he said un-known entities were levelingbaseless allegations againsthim, but his party workerswere only listening to thesame. The MQM chief saidthe media was projectingunimportant people and por-traying them as heroes, but heknew well the character ofthese “heroes”.

“Still, I kept quiet and didnot expose them,” Altafadded. he said he would file adefamation case against PTIchief Imran Khan, whichwould prove what was trueand what was not.

MInIstry of raIlwayswants rs 67bBudget toMeet non-developMentexpensesisLaMabad: The Ministry of Rail-ways on Sunday demanded Rs 67 bil-lion from the Finance Ministry to meetits non-development expenditures dur-ing 2013-14 fiscal year. “We have fi-nalised the non-development budget ofofficial expenditures, salaries, pen-sions and other heads and sent thesame to the Finance Division for ap-proval,” said a Railways official said.he said that the federal governmenthad been requested to allocate Rs 47billion while Rs 20 billion would begenerated by the department form itsown resources. The government hadallocated Rs 31 billion last year on ac-count of grants for Pakistan Railwaysto meet its losses and Rs 22.87 billionfor 37 development projects. The offi-cials said that around Rs 2 billion hadbeen allocated for procurement of 50De locomotives, Rs 5.7 billion forprocurement of 202 new the DesignPassenger Carriage, Rs 2.5 billion forreplacement of old and obsolete signalgear from Lodhran Khanewal-Shah-dara Bagh Main Line section and otherprojects. APP

fIrsT PAKIsTAnIwoMAn MAKes ITAToP everesTSamina Baig has become the firstPakistani woman to scale Mounteverest, the world’s highest mountainwith a peak at 8,848 metres. Shecompleted the climb with her brotherMirza Ali, who became the third andyoungest Pakistani male to scale themountain. Nepalese MountaineeringDepartment official Tilak Padney said35 foreigners accompanied by 29Nepalese guides reached the peak afterclimbing all night from the highestcamp on South Col — the pass betweeneverest and a neighbouring mountain.Ali (29) and Baig (21) are natives ofShimshal village in hunza valley,Pakistan. Ali has been climbing sinceage 15, and he was Baig’s mentor, guideand support. MONITORING DESk

eCP unfreezeseleCTorAl lIsTsisLaMabad: The electionCommission of Pakistan (eCP) onSunday unfroze voters lists across thecountry and restored clause 18 ofelectoral rules. According to theimplementation of the clause, newvoters can be included and they can getlists changed. Previously, the eCP hadfrozen voters lists following theannouncement of election schedule forgeneral elections of May 11. INP

KABULAGENCIES

Taliban attacks killed at least 10Afghan police on Sunday, officialssaid, in the latest violence againstthe force which is due to take moresecurity responsibility from NATOtroops before their withdrawal nextyear. In one of the incidents,Taliban fighters attacked a securitycheckpost in the Muqur district ofGhazni province in southernAfghanistan, killing six police,according to district governor.

“Six of our local police weremartyred after hours of clash withTaliban when they attacked theirpost early today,” he said. he addeda second attack on a local policecheckpost in Muqur wounded fourpolice. The victims were membersof the 18,000-strong Afghan LocalPolice, a village-level force formedin 2010 to provide security in areaswhere the better-trained nationalpolice and army are scarce. Also onSunday, four Afghan border policewere killed when their vehicle wasblown up by a roadside bomb in

eastern Nangarhar province thatborders neighbouring Pakistan.“Today at around 10:00 am, aborder police pickup truck hit aroadside bomb while on patrol inMohamand Dara district ofNangarhar province,” Ahmad ZiaAbdulzai, Nangarhar provincialgovernor spokesman said. “As aresult of the blast, four borderpolice were killed.” he said. ATaliban spokesman claimedresponsibility for both attackssaying at least two local officerswere among the dead in Ghazni.

PTI wins as MQM condemns ‘fake’ re-ballotingunofficiAl ReSultSdeclARe ARif AlviwinneR in nA-250, pticAndidAteS RemAinAheAd of otheRS

mqm SAyS tuRnoutbetween 10% to 15%

obama to speak on gitmo,drones amid criticism

agitated MQMworkers beat up their leaders?

LAHOREAPP

A medical team, headed by DrKhalid Niaz Niazi, arenowned rehabilitationspecialist and chief of hopeRehabilitation Center Lahorewill give a spinal brace to PTIchief Imran Khan in SKMChospital on Monday. Thespinal brace (jacket) made of aspecial thermoplastic materialhas already been arrangedfrom abroad. “After wearingthis spinal brace, Khan willhopefully be able to walk andstart normal activities,” thedoctor said.

Imran to start walking aftergetting a spinal brace

attacks kill 10 policemen in afghanistan

Imran undecided on keeping na-56 or na-71 seat

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:36 AM Page 4

Why is electricity so expensive these days? Why

does it cost so much for something I can make

with a balloon and my hair? — Dennis Miller

Low

High

TUESdAY WEdNESdAY THUrSdAY45°C I 26°C 45°C I 26°C 46°C I 27°C

PRAYER TIMINGS

SUNNY

WEATHEr UPdATES

450C

Fajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

3:30 5:03 11:59 3:39 6:55 8:29

260C

lahoreMonday, 20 May, 2013

L05

LAHORERANA HAIDER

the crime situation in thecountry presents a seriousdebacle for the PunjabPolice. Despite variousoperations, street crime,

robberies, murders and kidnappingincidents remain rampant. Many who areobserving the increasingly dangerousenvironment are saying that thegovernment and the Punjab Police needto organise and plan a successful strategyto safeguard the ordinary citizen’s lifeand property.This report details the personal story of aman who had been actively involved inLahore’s criminal circles at a point in hislife, participating in robberies and streetcrimes himself. he also served a jailsentence for his acts, after which he wasreleased and has been living a peacefuland law abiding life since.To conceal his identity, let us refer to thisindividual as “X”, who told that hisinitiation into a criminal life began with afew friends. Subsequently, he had tostruggle hard to extricate himself fromthe bog of illegal activity he had trappedhimself in. X and his friends used tofrequent a local gym together for bodybuilding. They were all jobless, and oneday, his friend voiced his anxiety andproposed a plan to his companions:“Friends, we are in dire straits. There areno jobs for us, and no opportunities formaking anything of ourselves. I say werob someone and make some money.”X received this idea with a lot of caution,“how can we do that? We’ll getcaught.” It is exceedinglydifficult, he chided hisfriends. “We’ll rob my ownaunt,” retorted the friend.“She’s quite rich. My uncleis in London, only my oldaunt and her daughter livein their house. I knowthat they have recentlyprocured a plot of land,the payment for whichlies in their home. Wecan easily go and ridthem off it at nightand we can use it to

start a business. Let me scout thepremises by visiting her place today, sothat we can devise our plan.” The friendhad presented a foolproof plan, so X andthe rest agreed upon this mission.X narrates that they executed the robberywith ease, getting a total of 60 millionrupees which they distributed amongstthemselves equally.“From then on, there was no turningback. Once that money finished, we werefar more emboldened about our nextrobbery. Before we knew it, we hadcommitted 20 dacoities andwere caught by the policefor our crimes,” headded.Once they were inthe police’s hands,X and his friendswere accused foran additional 20robberies whichthey had notcommitted. Theywere beatenrepeatedly, often tothe state ofunconsciousness.One army officer,whose house they hadrobbed, would visit thepolice station every dayto personally ensure thatthey were physicallytortured by the police,

desisting only when X and his buddiesthreatened him and his family withmurder. After some time, the gang offour was transferred to the Kot LakhpatJail. “entering the jail was an eyeopening experience for us,” said X.“What we found most ironic was that thegreatest and vilest crimes were beingcommitted in the jails, right under thepolicemen’s noses!” he added.It was in jail that the four also met Baali,the notorious robber king of Lahore, who

boasted of ample connections inthe jail community. People

like Baali couldarrange for

anything evenwhile incaptivity:drugs,cigarettes,illicit sex.“Jails are theplace to be ifyou want tonetworkamongst the

criminalcrowd of

Pakistan,” Xremarks with a

sardonic grin.According to him,

people who serve jailsentences end up evenmore embedded in

criminal circles. The police who weartheir law enforcing prowess like a badgeon their sleeve are actually collaboratingwith the criminal gangs in that respectivecity, X reveals. The police often have amonetary stake in the robberiesconducted in their areas.X spent seven years in jail. Afterrecalling his criminal career, he thanksGod for bringing him back onto the rightpath. Today, X makes a respectableliving for himself, and has begun toregain esteem in society.tHe poLice’s perspective:

Corruption and misuse of authority areendemic to the Police Department, said oneofficial who wished not to disclose hisname. According to him, the meagersalaries of personnel, coupled with theincreasingly harsh financial situation oftentempted the policemen to resort tounlawful partnerships with criminal gangs.Citing his own example, he explained thatdespite spending 30 years in thedepartment, he did not own a house andhad only succeeded in buying a motorcyclethrough installments. Those who dabbledin dubious practices however, possessedlavish houses and luxurious land cruisers.he added that a job in the department,given its structural flaws, exposed one tosituations which tested one’s honesty andintegrity to the maximum.‘We are doing oUr best’:

Commenting on the issue regardingpolicemen’s involvement inorganising crimes, the spokespersonof the Punjab inspector general ofpolice said that a few officers in thePunjab Police had been assigned thetask of pointing out moles from the

police department. Thespokesperson said that the

police department wasbeing rid of all suchofficers who were foundguilty of not being honestwith their duties. “A specialcommittee has beenconstituted by the PunjabIGP who monitors theperformance of theofficers and works toensure a crime-freeenvironment,” she said.

Tales from behind the barsseven years In Kot laKhpat JaIl hardened hIM enough that he even lost the lIttle fear of the law he once had

what we found most ironic was thatthe greatest and vilest crimes werebeing committed in the jails, right

under the policemen’s noses!

PresIdenT InTHe CITy forTwo dAys

LAHOREINP

President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday reachedthe city on a two-day visit. Zardari is scheduledto meet Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)leadership today at Bilawal house and discusthe reasons behind the humiliating defeat of hisparty in the general elections and to devise astrategy to revitalise PPP. Punjab GovernorMakhdoom Ahmed Mehmood and caretakerPunjab Chief Minister Najam Sethi receivedhim at the airport from where he proceeded toBilawal house on a helicopter.

LAHOREAGENCIES

With 80 new cases reported during the last24 hours, the number of measles casesreported in the Punjab in the last fivemonths has reached 12,570. According tohealth Department officials, at least 87deaths have been reported so far while mostdeaths occurred in Lahore, Gujranwala,Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Kasur.

During the last 24 hours, around 80 cases ofmeasles were reported from Punjab,including 46 from city hospitals.Meanwhile, Punjab health ServicesDirector General Dr Tanveer Ahmed saidthat it was found the majority of deaths inthe city were caused by severe pneumoniaand delay in reaching hospitals. however,measles vaccination is available in allhospitals of the city in ample quantity andpatients were being treated free, he claimed.

46 new MeAsles CAses rePorTed

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:36 AM Page 5

L

06

Monday, 20 May, 2013lahore

Electricity is really just organised

lightning. — George Carlin

CINE STAr AASHIQUI 2 02:30PM

PH: 35157462 CHAMBELI 05:00AM

AASHIQUI 2 07:45PM

CHAMBELI 10:30PM

SOZO WOrLd AASHIQUI 2 12:00, 3:00, 5:30, 8:00 & 10:45PM

PH: 36674271

SOZO GOLd CHAMBELI 12:00, 3:00, 5:30, 8:00 & 10:45PM

PH: 111-999-977 AASHIQUI 2 05:30PM

PAF AASHIQUI 2 03:00, 08:30, 11:30PM

PH: 36688880 CHAMBELI 05:30PM

AUDI-1SUPEr CINEMA AASHIQUI 2 06:00PM

AT rOYAL PALM AASHIQUI 2 8:30PM

PH: 111-602-602, EK THI dAAYAN 11:00PM

36118679

AUDI-2AASHIQUI 2 04:00PM

THE CrOOdS (3d) 06:30PM

CHAMBELI 08:15PM

OBLIvION 10:45PM

AUDI-3THE CrOOdS (3d) 04:30PM

CHAMBELI 06:15 PM

OBLIvION 08:45PM

AASHIQUI 2 11:00PM

LAHOREAPP

CAReTAKeR FederalMinister for Water andPower Dr Musadiq Maliksaid shortage of funds andmismanagement caused

load shedding.Addressing a joint press conference

with Federal Minister for Gas andPetroleum Sohail Wajahat Ali Siddiqui atWapda house on Sunday, he said high-ranking officials of Water and PowerDevelopment Authority had been changedand expected the situation would improvein two weeks.

Accepting his responsibility for loadshedding, he apologised to the nation andsaid his ministry had taken steps and theenergy crisis would be overcome soon. heexpected a good decision in favour of thenation could be taken in a meeting withthe prime minister to be held on Monday.

he said that 12,800 megawatt electricityhad been generated during election daysand no complaint of load shedding wasreceived in those days.

The minister said about 9,500megawatt electricity was beingproduced after elections, however, hesaid more energy could be produced ifsolid measures were taken. Talkingabout defaulters, he said Karachielectric Supply Company (KeSC) wasa private company and it was defaulterof Rs 60 billion.

he hoped the incoming governmentcould overcome the energy crisis in sixmonths and eliminate load shedding inthree years if it followedrecommendations of the caretakergovernment. he said about 250 megawattenergy was being supplied to exemptedsectors including health, jails and othersfrom where the department receivednothing. Federal Minister for Gas andPetroleum Sohail Wajahat Ali Siddiqui

said that gas tariff for all five sectorsincluding domestic, commercial orindustrial, fertilizers, CNG and cementsectors had to be revised as there was noother way to manage the energy crisis.

he said the ministry was providingadditional 150 MMCFT gas to WAPDAfor electricity production, adding gas wascheap energy so it was stolen. Theminister said gas worth Rs 300 millionwas stolen every year which could not betolerated. he said prices of gas wouldgradually be increased so that thecommon man might not be affected. hesaid subsidy should be given to targetedand poor people and the rich communityshould not be provided with subsidy. hesaid the caretaker government had set upa roadmap for the incoming governmentand hoped the next government wouldfollow it for the interest of the commonman. Directors of all distributioncompanies and chairman WAPDA boardwere also present.

‘funds shortage BehInd energy crIsIs’

LAHOREAPP

experts have said that sun strokecould cause instant death duringsummers if preventive measureswere not adopted.Khawaja Safdar Medical CollegePrincipal Prof Dr Zafar AliChaudhary said that sun strokeoccurs due to failure of body’sheat regulating mechanism andmen particularly elderly peoplewere more prone to sun strokes ascompared to women. highlighting the symptoms of thestroke, he said, in the first step thebody water is lost throughincessant perspiration whichcauses the internal bodytemperature shoot up todangerous levels - as high as 106degrees Fahrenheit. he advisedthat the victims should beimmediately moved to a coolerplace and be given cold water orice sponging in the limbs torestore the blood circulation. Thevictims should also beadministered salt and water

through drips, he added. Mayohospital Medical SuperintendentDr Zahid Pervaiz, a prominentfamily physician, also advisedpeople to avoid direct exposure toheat and stay indoors as much aspossible. he further advised themto cover the head and neck while

going out. he said that plenty ofchilled drinks with a dash of saltare a good preventive measure.Citing the importance of orientaldrinks such as lassi, sattu, shakkarsharbat, lemon water etc, he saidthese are much more helpful thanthe commercial drinks.

sun stroKe can cause Instant death

sArAbjIT CAse:lHC judge MAyvIsIT IndIA

LAHOREINP

Justice Syed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi ofthe Lahore high Court, investigating thedeath of Indian prisoner Sarabjit whodied on May 2 following an assault byprisoners on April 26 within Kot LakhpatJail in Lahore, may also visit India tocomplete the judicial enquiry. The one-man inquiry tribunal has appealed to theIndian nationals having information aboutthe matter to file written submissionswith relevant documents within sevendays. The Indians are required to getthemselves registered with the inquirytribunal at its official website, said RiazAhmed, the personal staff officer of thejudge. he said the judge might visit Indiain connection with the enquiry if he feelsneeded. The tribunal has also invitedPakistani citizens to file writtensubmissions with relevant documents,accompanied with a copy of theirComputerised National Identity Card,within seven days. No deadline has beenfixed for completing the enquiry. Five tosix prisoners had assaulted Sarabjit onApril 26. After being comatose for nearlya week, Sarabjit died at Jinnah hospitalin Lahore on May 2.

AnIMAl HeAlTHCAre

In foCusLaHore: A diet with the addition of dailyintake of glucose and vitamins is beingadministered to all the animals at the LahoreZoo to prevent them from scorching heat. Aircoolers have also been installed in front ofsome cages to save the animals from heat,said Lahore Zoological Gardens ActingDirector Dr Mubashar hassan on Sunday. hesaid that glucose was being dispensed to allthe birds through water and vitamin capsuleswere being given to the animals through theirfeed. he said 25 air coolers have beeninstalled in front of the cages of tigers,leopards and other animals. Apart from this,20 ice blocks of 100 kg each are beingsupplied daily in all the enclosures to ensurecold water for the animals. Bamboo blindshave been hung on the windows of cages andenclosures to protect the animals fromheatstroke. he said a veterinary doctorexamines the zoo animals twice a day. APP

LaHore: About 20operations are put off everyday and around 60 operationshave been postponed so farin a few days in 1400-bedJinnah hospital. hospitalsources said that 1,000people were treatedregularly at thehospital including300 visitors at theemergencyDepartment,while 30patients onaveragewererequired toundergosurgeries. Sources said thatthese routine procedureswere not been adhered toowing to a rise in poweroutages. They said that sixoperation theatres of thehospital had become almostdysfunctional, adding thatthe management had torevise the list of operationsand postpone them for thenext day but the samesituation of load sheddingarose the next day. Over 60operations have been

postponedin the last

four days,they added.

Meanwhile, due tosevere shortage of

medicines doctors areforced to advice patients tobuy medicines from themarket. A doctor oncondition of anonymity saidthat the health Department

on February 25 hadmade an

agreementwith

doctors at aprotest camp for theprovision of medicines topatients in all public sectorhospitals but despite thepassage of two and a halfmonths the promise couldnot be fulfilled. Whencontacted, MS Dr Ijaz Shaikhsaid some operations werepostponed due to loadshedding which was alsoaffecting all hospitals.however, he admitted theshortage of medicines andsaid the management wastaking steps to overcome theproblem. APP

outages delayoperatIons InJInnah hospItal

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:36 AM Page 6

07

newsMonday, 20 May, 2013

Politics is when you say you are going to do one thing

while intending to do another. Then you do neither what

you said nor what you intended. — Saddam Hussein N

tUnis: Clashes have broken out between police and supporters of the Salafistmovement Ansar al-Sharia in two places in Tunisia. One clash occurred on Sundayin a Tunis suburb where the group had told supporters to meet for their annual con-gress in defiance of a government ban, according to an AFP journalist. hundreds ofSalafists erected barricades in the streets of ettadhamen, a poor neighbourhood ofwestern Tunis, and hurled rocks at police, who responded by firing tear gas on Sun-day. The other clash happened in the city of Kairouan, where police fired teargas atsupporters of Ansar al-Sharia who were throwing stones at officers. Security forceswere deployed in strength after Ansar al-Sharia threatened to hold the meeting.Meanwhile, Seifeddine Rais, the group's spokesman, was arrested at dawn on Sun-day as he went jogging in front of police, according to a police source, who de-scribed his behaviour as a "provocation". Rais had said last week that he expectedmore than 40,000 people to attend this year's annual congress, which was plannedfor 1500 GMT. Police have also been monitoring traffic along main highways, sin-gling out for checks the private minibuses that ply between Tunisian towns, withspecial attention paid to men with beards, as worn by Salafists. Tunisia has beenrocked by attacks blamed on Islamist fighters since the uprising that toppled long-time President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, and Ansar al-Sharia is considered one ofthe most radical groups that emerged after the 2011 revolution. The governmenthas hardened its position towards the group in recent months, after the moderate Is-lamist party ennahda was strongly criticised for being too lenient and failing toprevent a wave of violence around the country. AGENCIES

salafist group clashes withpolice in tunisia

NEW DELHI AGENCIES

ChINA'S new prime minister hasarrived in India for his first for-eign trip as the two Asian coun-tries look to speed up efforts tosettle a decades-old border dis-

pute and strengthen economic ties.China said on Sunday that Li Keqiang's

choice of India for his first trip abroad sincetaking office in March shows the impor-tance the countries attaches to improvingrelations with its western neighbour.

After India, Li's foreign tour will takehim to Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany.

"We think very highly of this gesturebecause it is our view that high-level polit-ical exchanges between our two countriesare an important aspect and vehicle for ourexpanded cooperation," Syed Akbaruddin,India's external affairs ministry spokesman,

said. Bhaskar Roy, a New Delhi-based po-litical analyst, said it is very interesting thatLi's first stop in his tour is India.

"This shows a change in the way ofthinking or readjustment of thinking in Bei-jing," he said. "According to Chinese offi-cials, they are entering a new age of foreignpolicy or diplomacy, which seeks to en-compass neigbours." Tensions run high be-tween the two countries. China already seesitself as Asia's great power, while Indiahopes its increasing economic and militarymight, though still far below its neighbor's,will eventually put it in the same league.

Unresolved border issues between theneighbours have flared as well. In lastmonth's incident, India claimed that Chi-nese troops crossed the countries' de factoborder April 15 and pitched camp in theDepsang valley in the Ladakh region ofeastern Kashmir. India responded withdiplomatic protests, then moved its soldiers

just 300 metres rom the Chinese position.The two sides negotiated a peaceful end

to the standoff by withdrawing troops to

their original positions in the Ladakh area.Gautam Bambawale, a senior Indian exter-nal affairs ministry official, said India and

China were negotiating a Border DefenseCooperation Agreement, but declined to givedetails. Indian media reports said the agree-ment proposes a freezing of troop levels ofthe two countries in the disputed border re-gion as they make efforts to settle the issue.

Shortly after his arrival in New Delhilate on Sunday afternoon, Li was scheduledto meet his Indian counterpart ManmohanSingh, who will host a dinner for him.

Delegation-level talks between the twosides are scheduled for Monday. Li will at-tend a business summit in Mumbai, India'sfinancial capital, among other activities. Theborder friction last month led to the Indianopposition and the media putting pressure onthe government to take on China and call offLi's visit. China has become India's biggesttrading partner, with two-way trade jumpingfrom $5bn in 2002 to nearly $75bn in 2011,although that figure declined to $61.5bn lastyear because of the global economic slump.

Chinese premier visits India

SAntIAgo XALItzIntLA: the popocatepetl volcano in

Mexico spews a cloud of ash and smoke on Sunday. AGENCIES

BAgHDADAGENCIES

The death toll in Iraq from four consecutivedays of violence has reached at least 140 peo-ple, stirring fears that rising sectarian con-flicts could lead the country into civil war.

Many Iraqis were in mourning on Sun-day amid simmering tensions between theSunni minority and Shia majority despiteincreased security patrols.

In Baghdad, the presence of SWATteams, army, police officers and mobilecheckpoints has increased in several areas.

Officers are searching cars and roadsfor suspicious packages.

"The situation in Baghdad appears tobe relatively calm but it remains verytense," Al Jazeera's Omar Al Saleh, report-ing from erbil, said

On Saturday, attacks killed 16 people,including a police officer, his wife and twochildren, while armed men abducted 10 po-licemen, officials said.

In Anbar, four state-backed so-calledSahwa (Awakening) fighters were killed inan attack on their headquarters.

The Sahwa are Sunni Arabs who joinedforces with the US military to fight al-Qaeda's Iraq branch at the height of thecountry's conflict. Armed men also am-bushed and abducted 10 Sunni policemennear Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, a Sunniheartland bordering Syria.

More than 70 people were killed inbombings on Friday in majority Sunni dis-tricts in Baghdad and surrounding areas, inwhat was noted as the deadliest day in Iraqin more than eight months.

Ongoing protests by Sunnis continue,with many demonstrating against what theysay is mistreatment at the hands of themainly Shia-led government, including ran-dom detentions and neglect. The protests,which began in December, have largelybeen peaceful, but the number of attacksrose sharply after a deadly security crack-down on a Sunni protest camp in the coun-try's north on April 23.

So far in May, more than 300 peoplehave been killed in the violence. The deathtoll for this year is around 1,500 people.

Monthly death tolls are well belowthose of 2006-07, when they sometimestopped 3,000, but more than 700 werekilled in April by a UN count, the highestfigure in almost five years.

Iraq death toll stirsfears of civil war

DAMAsCUsAGENCIES

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said hewill not resign before elections in 2014and warned against the opposition, in aninterview with an Argentine newspaper.

Assad also said that he blames foreignintervention for the crisis, and he cau-tiously welcomed a proposed internationalpeace conference launched by the US andRussia. Assad spoke to Clarin and the Ar-gentine state news agency Telam in thefrank and lengthy interview in Damascus,released on Saturday, in which he also de-nied that his government has used chemi-

c a l

weapons against the civilian population.his comments come amid a rare joint pushby the US and Russia to convene thepeace conference in Geneva. "We have re-ceived the Russian-US approach well andwe hope that there will be an internationalconference to help Syrians overcome thecrisis," Clarin quoted Assad as saying.

"We must be clear ... there is confusionin the world over a political solution and ter-rorism. They think that a political confer-ence will stop terrorism on the ground. Thisis unrealistic." The meeting's date is yet tobe decided, but it aims to bring togethermembers of the regime and the rebels. "Wedo not believe that many Western countriesreally want a solution in Syria. And we don'tthink that the forces that support the terror-ists want a solution to the crisis," Assadsaid. he discounted the possibility of re-signing, saying that his stay in power willbe decided by Syrians next year.

"I don't know if [US Secretary of StateJohn] Kerry or anyone else has received thepower of the Syrian people to talk in theirname about who should go and who shouldstay. That will be determined by the Syrianpeople in the 2014 presidential elections,"Assad said. "To resign would be to flee."

Pressure for action on Syria has mountedwith Western intelligence re-ports that the regime has used

chemical weapons on at leasttwo occasions, and as

the UN's death tollpassed 80,000

after 26 monthsof war.

T e l a mquoted Assadas denyingthat his gov-

ernment has used chemical weaponsagainst its civilian population, saying thatmass casualties could not be hidden if theregime had. "The accusations againstSyria regarding the use of chemicalweapons or my resignation change everyday. And it is likely that this is used as aprelude to a war against our country," hesaid. "They said we use chemical weaponsagainst residential areas. If they were usedin a city or a suburb with only 10 or 20victims, would that be credible?"

Their use, he said, "would mean thedeath of thousands or tens of thousands ofpeople in a matter of minutes. Who couldhide something like that?" Assad also ques-tioned the estimates of the number of deadproduced by human rights groups, but ac-knowledged that "thousands of Syrianshave died". "We shouldn't ignore that manyof the dead that they talk about are foreign-ers who have come to kill the Syrian peo-ple," he said, blaming "local terrorism andthat coming from abroad" for the violence.QUsayr vioLence: Clarin saidAssad denied that his government wasusing "fighters from outside of Syria, ofother nationalities, and needs no supportfrom any Arab or foreign state. "There arehezbollah people in Iran, in Syria, butthey come and go in Syria from long be-fore the crisis," he said. however, hezbol-lah fighters from Lebanon are known tobe fighting alongside Syrian governmentforces, with military action increasing inrecent weeks in one flashpoint area,Qusayr, in homs province. In the latestdevelopment in Qusayr, at least 32 peoplewere killed on Sunday as the Syrian mili-tary pounded the rebel-held central town,in an apparent preparation for a ground as-sault, a watchdog and activists said.

assad insists he will not step down

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:36 AM Page 7

newsNMonday 20 May, 2013

08

democraticstability vital for economy‚peace: nizami

IsLAMABADNNI

Caretaker InformationMinister Arif Nizami onSunday emphasisedthat democraticstability was vital formaintainingeconomic strengthand peace in thecountry. In an interview‚he urged all the institutionsto respect each other and workwithin their constitutional boundaries to avoid aclash for strong democracy in the country. Theminister said the coming government wouldface major internal and external challenges likeeconomic instability‚ terrorism and energycrisis. he said political maturity and strongpolitical would be needed to solve all thechallenges faced by the country. Furthermore,Nizami said democratic system was the onlysolution to meet the challenges.

fazl forms committeeto negotiate with ‘n’

IsLAMABADINP

Fazlur Rehman, chief of his own faction ofJamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), on Sundayformed a four-member committee to hold talkswith the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) regarding expected federal government.JUI-F spokesman Amjad Khan told reporters theparty had decided to continue talks with thePML-N and Abdul Ghafoor haideri would leadthe committee. The committee also includesAkram Khan Durrani, Gul Naseeb and MalikSikandar, he added. To a question, he said theJUI-F did not hold negotiations for the formationof the government, and demanding a ministry orgovernorship was out of question. Meanwhile,PML-N leader Raja Zafarul haq also confirmedthat the JUI-F did not make any demand inSaturday’s talks

Husband divorceswife over voting for ‘n’

sARgODHAONlINE

A supporter of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) divorced his wife for supporting acandidate from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Shafiq, who married awoman from his family in hafizabad, wasannoyed that his wife Shamim supported thePML-N candidate from NA-166. AfterShamim voted for the PML-N candidate, averbal war started in the house whichultimately led to a divorce.

NEWs DEsK

From its beautiful temples to itsstunning mountain ranges,there’s a lot to see in Pakistan.But one of its lesser known at-tractions is the vibrantly paintedtrucks that can be spotted trav-elling around the country.

As far from the traditionallydull looking arctic lorries as itspossible to get, these hand-painted trucks are pieces ofmoving art. The ancient Pak-istani practice of drivers deco-rating their trucks has its rootsin the days of the Raj whencraftsmen made colourful horsedrawn carriages for the gentry.

The tradition continued withdrivers decorating their vehiclesto attract custom and to thankGod for prosperity.

Different regions developedtheir own styles over time andmany of the images painted onthe side of the vehicles served asreminders of home for driverson long journeys. Trucks fromthe region of Swat are distinc-tive for their carved woodendoors and limited use of plasticand hammered metalwork. Al-though Pakistan is often de-scribed as a low-economicstatus nation, large amounts ofmoney will change hands todecorate trucks. Many truck

owners will pay between $3,000and $5,000 to decorate their ve-hicles. One paint workshopowner hussain Noor, 58, hasbeen painting trucks for 43years and one of his trucks isdisplayed in a museum in Ger-many. This collection of imagesshows drivers adding the finish-ing touches of paint to theirtrucks at his studio inRawalpindi.

Many have painted colorfulfloral patterns or creative depic-tions of heroes alongside callig-raphy of poetic verses on theirvehicles. each part of the truckis decorated differently and cancontain numerous themes.

MONItORINg DEsK

He may only work parttime, but Bill Gateshas become theworld’s richest manfor a second time

thanks to a nest egg of shrewd financialinvestments - and a little help from theMexican government, according toMail Online.

The software mogul snatched thetitle from Mexican mobile phone ty-coon Carlos Slim yesterday afterBloomberg revealed his personal for-tune had blossomed to an eye-watering$72.7billion. Gates, who has spent hislife at the vanguard of computer inno-vation since he founded Microsoft in1976, last wore the crown in 2007 butwas usurped by Slim three years later.But a bill passed by the Mexican con-gress aimed at breaking up Slim’s nearmonopoly on the country’s telecom in-dustry, through flagship firm AmericanMovil SAB, saw his net wealth plum-met by 14 percent, erasing nearly $3billion from his accounts.

Meanwhile, Gates watched his

riches soar by 15 percentafter his investmentportfolio, which in-cludes a large stakein Microsoft, en-joyed a bumperfew years. Most ofGates’ fortune,however, lies inCascade Invest-ment LLC - a hold-ing company throughwhich he owns por-tions of more than adozen publicly-traded com-panies and other operations, includ-ing Four Seasons hotels. TheBloomberg Billionaire’s Index rankedfamous investor Warren Buffet in thirdplace with a personal net wealth of$59.7 billion.

he came out $3.7 billion richerthan Amancio Ortega Gaona, europe’swealthiest person, whose Spanishclothing company Inditex group ownshigh-street chain Zara. Since retiring aschairman of Microsoft in 2008, Gateshas thrown himself into his philan-thropy after setting up charity the Bill

and Melinda Gates Founda-tion, which gives aid to

some of the most un-derprivileged coun-tries in the world.The Microsoftfounder has dedi-cated much of histime in the pastfive years to chari-

table causes throughthe foundation, spear-

heading African aidprojects and encouraging

others to spread their wealth.Last year, the multi-billionaire do-

nated $750million to the Global Fundto Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, andMalaria on the fund’s tenth anniver-sary. he had already contributed$650million to the charity. “These aretough economic times, but that is noexcuse for cutting aid to the world’spoorest,” Gates said at the time, addingthat “The United States has a hugebudget deficit so taxes are going tohave to go up. I certainly agree thatthey should go up more on the rich thaneveryone else. That’s just justice.”

PTI nominates AsadQaiser as KP speakerpesHaWar: For-merly a front-run-ner for the seatof chief minis-ter of KhyberPakhtunkhwa,PakistanTehreek-e-In-saaf leaderAsad Qaiser hasbeen nominatedas the speaker ofthe provincial assemblyby the party. According to Pak-istan Tehreek-e-Insaaf officials, party chair-man Imran Khan had nominated Asad as thenext speaker of the assembly. PTI is all set toform its provincial government after it has fi-nalised matters with Jamaat-e-Islami andQaumi Watan Party (QWP). Parvaiz Khattak,who was earlier a prominent leader of theQWP, has been nominated as the chief minis-ter of the province. Meanwhile, PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate for provin-cial assembly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa re-tained the PK-10 seat after a vote recount.Awami National Party (ANP) candidateKhushdil Khan had pleaded for vote recounton PK-10 after PTI’s Shah Farman’s won thepolls. The returning officer recounted the votes,however, Shah Farman retained a lead with1,300 ballots. Later, the elections Commissionof Pakistan (eCP) issued a notification of PTIcandidate’s win. ONlINE

BIll gates Is the world’s rIchestMan for fIrst tIMe sInce 2007

paKIstan’s psychedelIc caravans wIll really lIven up long-dIstance Journeys

MULtAn: A labourer loads ice blocks onto his donkey cart to

supply to various areas of the city as temperatures rise. INP

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:37 AM Page 8

news N

09

Monday 20 May, 2013

QUEttAAGENCIES

PAKISTAN Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shah-baz Sharif met PakhtunkhwaMilli Awami Party (PkMAP)chief Mehmood Khan

Achakzai in Quetta on Sunday and dis-cussed issues relating to formation of thenext government in Balochistan.

Talking to reporters after the meeting,Shahbaz said the next chief minister ofBalochistan would be finalised after mutualconsultations. he said the PML-N hadstruck an alliance with the PkMAP and theNational Party (NP), and together theywould form the government and redress thegrievances of the people of the province.

Shahbaz said a decision on theBalochistan chief minister would be madesoon after Nawaz Sharif’s consent.

he said, “We have learnt a lesson frompast mistakes and have decided to introducea model government that will put the coun-try on the road to progress and prosperity.”

he said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharifwanted to take serious steps to remove thesense of deprivation of the people ofBalochistan. “The issues of the provincewill be resolved amicably with joint efforts

of all political stakeholders,” he added.earlier, he met Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, thePML-N Balochistan president and offeredprayers for his son, brother and nephew,who were killed in a bomb attack prior tothe elections.

Shahbaz said his party, along with itsallies, would try its level best to steer thecountry out of the crises it was facing.

he said the PML-N would do its bestto eliminate corruption, terrorism, loadshedding, and will resolve issues of agricul-ture in the country, particularly in Balochis-tan. he said people had given mandate tothose who were against corruption. To aquestion about the meeting with Chief ofArmy Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani,Shahbaz said the meeting was held in a cor-dial atmosphere. he said security mattersand the situation in the region were dis-cussed in the meeting.

The PML-N leader pledged to bolsterdevelopment projects in Balochistan.Shahbaz also held a meeting with Na-tional Party chief Abdul Malik Baloch inQuetta on Sunday and discussed issuespertaining to formation of government inBalochistan. PML-N leaders ChaudhryNisar and Sanaullah Zehri and NationalParty leader Mir hasel Bizenjo were alsopresent on the occasion.

shahBaZ, achaKZaI dIscuss post-electIon BalochIstan scenarIo

QUettA: pML-n leaders Shahbaz Sharif and nisar Ali Khan and pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami party chief Mehmood Khan

Achakzai talk to reporters after their meeting on Sunday. INP

oPf officials receivedfake medicalreimbursementsworth rs 2.5m: report

IsLAMABADANWER ABBAS

Only twenty five employees of Overseas PakistanisFoundation (OPF) received medical reimbursementsworth almost Rs 2.5 million, according to a high-levelinquiry report on alleged irregularities in OPF which isavailable with Pakistan Today. The report disclosedthat Faiz Muhammad received an amount of Rs276,830 on account of medical reimbursements in aperiod of two years, followed by haq Nawaz who haddrawn Rs 121,902. Other employees that were amongthe top receivers of medical reimbursements includeNazir husssain with Rs 114,911 and Ghazanfar Aliwith reimbursements worth Rs 112,510. These 25employees received a total amount of Rs 2,439,743.While sharing its findings, the high-level inquirycommittee said, that the free outdoor medical treatmentfacility was being grossly abused by OPF employeesand its management. The committee further said theOPF Board of Governors seriously objected to the highamounts being paid on account of medicalreimbursement to employees. The committee said ithad information that OPF employees were involved ingetting prescriptions of their choice from the medicalpractitioners on the OPF panel and had used the moneyfor purchasing household goods and had even receivedcash from medical stores linked with OPF. Two otherOPF officials, Farooq Azam and Saifur Rehman,received foreign treatment for which they were laterreimbursed for the complete tour. The committeerecommended stern action against these employees andasked the two to recover the whole amount they hadreceived in reimbursements. The report is likely to bepresented before the Supreme Court of Pakistan byMay 26, and carries major irregularities that werecarried out in OPF during 1998-9. The inquiry reportwas completed in 2000 but no one managed to presentit before the court or make it public. Most governmentofficers who tried to take up the issue failed to protecttheir jobs and were either terminated or transferred.however, under directions of the Supreme Court thereport would be presented this time around.

LAHOREONlINE

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Munawar hasan onSunday said that Washington’s statementto continue drone attacks was a challengefor the newly-elected rulers.

In a statement, he said that the pro-tection of the life of the citizens was theforemost responsibility of the rulerswhereas the killing of innocent tribal peo-ple in the name of al Qaeda and Talibanonly proved the helplessness of the Pak-

istani government and the armed forces.hasan said the US had been continuouslytargeting the tribal areas and the drone at-tacks were making a mockery of Pak-istan’s independence and sovereignty. hesaid if the newly elected rulers also fol-lowed in the footsteps of Musharraf andZardari, they would face the wrath of thepeople. The JI chief urged Nawaz Sharifto pick up courage and adopt a boldstance in accordance with the nation’s as-pirations making it clear to the US thatdrone attacks won’t be tolerated.

he said the newly-elected rulerswould have to get out of the US pressurefor safeguarding the country’s solidarityand integrity and to restore its image inthe comity of the nations. he said that asthe nation had expressed its confidence inNawaz, he too should throw off the yokeof US slavery and refuse to side with theUS and NATO. he said the violation ofPakistan’s territorial frontiers by thedrones was against international law. TheUS, he said, was actually at war withIslam and the Muslims as it was bracket-

ing the Muslims with terrorism and sub-version. The JI chief said that peace andstability were essential for national devel-opment and progress, adding that as longas terrorism and US aggression contin-ued, the country could not progress.

hasan also stressed upon security in-stitutions and agencies to give up theirgame in order to overcome target killingsand lawlessness in Karachi. The MQM,he said, was holding the port city ahostage and had seized control throughcoercion and rigging.

LONDONNNI

Senate Chairman Nayyar hussainBukhari emphasised the need for en-hanced cooperation in various fieldsbetween Pakistan and United Kingdom(UK) in a meeting with his Britishcounterpart Baroness D’Souza duringa parliamentary visit to London.

he highlighted the politicalprogress in Pakistan including the re-cent general elections which were amilestone in Pakistan’s political andparliamentary history. The meetingwas attended by Mike Gapes MP,Alan haselhurst MP, Yasmin QureshiMP, earl of Sandwich John Montaguand Viscount John Slim. The Senatechairman was accompanied by SenateSecretary General Iftikharullah Babar

and Deputy high Commissioner SyedZulfiqar Gardezi. The discussion alsocovered Pakistan’s role in the fightagainst militancy. Bukhari noted thatPakistan had so far lost over 47,000lives and suffered an economic loss of$78 billion in its fight against mili-tancy. he underscored Pakistan’scommitment to combat the menace ofterrorism and extremism. DiscussingPakistan-UK bilateral relations, theSenate chairman thanked the Britishgovernment for its continued supportto Pakistan in the education sector.Parliamentary exchanges between thetwo sides were also discussed.

Lord Speaker and British parlia-mentarians praised the success ofPakistan’s fair and transparent elec-tions. They recognised the sacrificesof the people of Pakistan in the fight

against terrorism and reiteratedBritish support to Pakistan, particu-larly in the education sector.

The Senate chairman accompa-nied by high Commissioner WajidShamsul hasan, Iftikharullah Babarand Syed Zulfiqar Gardezi also helda meeting with Commonwealth Par-liamentary Association (CPA) Secre-tary General Dr William F Shija at theCPA Secretariat. Shija applaudedPakistan on successfully holding gen-eral elections. he gave a briefing onthe role of the Commonwealth, par-ticularly the CPA, in building bridgesamongst its 54 member states. Thediscussion also covered cooperationbetween CPA and the Pakistan Sen-ate. Bukhari extended an invitation toShija and the CPA executive commit-tee to visit Pakistan.

Indian man gets 10years for putting‘chastity lock’ on wife

INDOREINP

A district court in India sentenced a 45-year-old man to 10 years of rigorousimprisonment for putting “chastity lock”on his wife’s genital area. Specialadditional sessions judge A K Singhfound Sohan Lal Chouhan guilty undersections 326 (causing grievous hurt) and498 A (subjecting married woman tocruelty) of the Indian Penal Code. Thecourt also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 onhim. Meanwhile, public prosecutor JyotiTomar said Chouhan was arrested in July2012. Out of the 14 witnesses presentedbefore the court, three — including thecouple’s son and daughter — had turnedhostile. “however, the son admittedChouhan had not allowed him to meet hismother in the last four years,” Tomarsaid. “Besides, the statements of thedoctor who had removed the “lock”, thepoliceman who had recovered the keyfrom Chouhan and an independentwitness helped in nailing Chouhan,” headded. Chouhan’s cruelty had come tolight after his wife tried to commitsuicide by consuming poison. Whiletrying to insert a tube to extract thepoison, hospital doctors were stunned tosee the genitals “locked”. She thenrevealed her husband had done this byperforming a crude surgery on her fouryears ago. In a statement, she said thather husband suspected her of having anextramarital affair. The woman wasmarried to Chouhan when she was 16years old. The cruelty came intolimelight after she consumed pesticideafter Chouhan tried to rape their elderdaughter.

us stance on drones challenge for new rulers: hasan

need for enhanced cooperatIonBetween paKIstan‚ uK: senate chIef

teHran: Two Iranian spies workingfor the US Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) and Israeli intelligence agencyMossad were hanged in Iran on Sundaymorning, the state IRIB TV said.Mohammad heidari, one of theexecuted men, had preparedinformation in a number of securityissues of the country and had giventhem to the Israeli Mossad in severalmeetings outside of the country, thereport said. heidari received money in

return for the information he hadavailed to the Israeli Mossad, accordingto IRIB. Another convicted man was,reportedly, Kourosh Ahmadi, who alsohad links with the CIA elements,collected information about Iran in anumber of areas and gave them to theCIA. In the past years, Iranian securityand judiciary officials occasionally saidthat they had arrested locals and non-locals linked to several Israeli and USspying networks. In 2009, Iran detained

three US hikers for illegally enteringIran and espionage charges. The femalehiker, Sarah Shourd, was freed in 2010on a bail of 500,000 US dollars, and theother two, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal,were released in September 2011, alsoon a bail of $500,000 each. In May2012, an Iranian court sentenced 13people found guilty of involvement inespionage activities for the Israeliintelligence agency. Branch 15 ofTehran’s Revolution Court stated that

the convicts had been lured into spyingfor the Mossad by overseas-basedsatellite television networks and cleveradvertisement campaigns. In the month,the Islamic republic hanged an Iranianman convicted of assassinating anIranian nuclear physicist. Iran accusedIsrael of assassinating its nuclearscientists, and blamed the United Statesfor being behind the terror acts againstIranian scholars. NNI

two Mossad, cIa ‘spIes’ executed In Iran

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:37 AM Page 9

Mud slingingelections are just around the corner. The campaign ofpolitical parties is gathering its swing. The politicalleaders, at least those who are claimants of being stalwarts,are using cheap slogans and language in public rallies.Their language cannot be watched on TV with familyaround. One political starter has gone so low that hereminds me of age-old deceased Mazhar Shah of Punjabifilms fame. As such our country is now devoid of allconsumable resources the only thing left was little decencyand this election and electioneering is going to wash awayeven decency.

AMJAD HABIB MIRZALahore

subversion of rule of lawIt is regrettable that the laws have been manipulated tofavour the rich who commit criminal offences but get lightsentences while the common people that engage in pettystealing end up spending long years behind bars. Lawyershave perfected many ways of evading justice throughfrivolous injunctions.

Lawyers file such motions for all sorts of vexatiousissues. Lawyers usually apply such methods, nowadaysfrequent boycotts and strikes, to stall court processes andthat is a crude abuse of court process. Corruption hasassumed a dangerous dimension among the courtpersonnel of district judiciary to the essence that lawyers

seek injunction to prevent law enforcement agents fromarresting or prosecuting suspected criminals. Is thereanyone take notice of this manifest subversion of the ruleof law, chronic corruption, abuse of professional ethics andmoral bankruptcy in our district courts?

HASHIM ABROIslamabad

special arrangement forold aged votersI want to draw the attention of the Chief electioncommissioner of Pakistan towards a serious problem facedby old aged voters. The number of old aged voters ishardly around 28 % of total number of voters of Pakistan.

These people always make a good decision and their23 % votes can decide the success of suitable candidates.Very few people go to polling stations to cast their vote.This is due to the lack of respect, no rules and regulationsand lack of insecurity.

I will request the election commissioner of Pakistanthat a separate list of old aged voters should be preparedand kindly made special arrangement for the collecting oftheir votes from their homes by introducing mobile pollingstations.

I hope that our chief election commissioner of Pakistanwill surely solve the most serious problems of old-agedvoters of Pakistan for holding a fair election in Pakistan.

RAJA GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN ADOWALIYARawalpindi

coMMent

Aziz-ud-Din AhmadEditor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36375963-5 Fax: 042-32535230Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287273 Fax: 051-2850505Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

C

Kayani meets nawaz sharif

True to script

The nA-250 polls

NA-250 is the name of the constituency on everyone’s lips – and perhaps theconstituency that threatens to derail what otherwise were positive elections.The battle for the constituency, which began when the Pakistan Tehreek-i-

Insaf (PTI) supporters took to Teen Talwar, to protest against alleged Mutahida QaumiMovement (MQM)-led rigging, turned into a verbal shouting match in which the MQMleader Altaf hussain appeared to have threatened everyone, and the MQM announcinga boycott of the re-poll at 43 polling stations. The MQM’s demand was complete re-polling, the eCP rejected, and a night before the polls the Vice President, PTI Sindh,Zahra Shahid hussain, was shot dead outside her house in Karachi.

Fear dominated the polls the next day as polls, held with military men inside pollingstations, were reported to have barely brought out over 10 percent of the over 70,000voters still to poll. The eCP made it clear before the re-poll that all election staff had beentransferred and that high security would be provided to ensure an incident-less poll. Butwith the murder of Zahra Shahid turning into another verbal triad between the MQM andPTI leadership, the election itself appears like it shall be forever scarred. The PTIchairman pointed the finger for the murder squarely at MQM chief Altaf hussain and theBritish government for aiding and abetting his stay. MQM’s Farooq Sattar amongst othersresponded in tit-for-tat, calling the PTI “akin to the Taliban” and digging up Imran Khan’spersonal history, while on the face of it, condemning the killing. even Altaf hussainissued a public statement calling for a judicial investigation into Shahid’s murder.

A judicial enquiry is the minimum that would be required, as the killers of ZahraShahid need to be brought to justice quickly, as should any political party involved. Suchan enquiry must also take into account the charges against the MQM top leadership bythe PTI chairman. Provocative statements were definitely made, and the matter needs tobe resolved quickly. The MQM boycott of the polls appears to have opened the space forthe victory of PTI candidate, Dr Arif Alvi, but any such mandate shall nonetheless remaincontroversial with other parties having refused to legitimise the partial re-poll. While, onone side, political parties should have some maturity, on the other, the eCP itself isopening more questions about its role. how can a re-poll, intended to “increase thetransparency of an election” fulfil its purpose if most of the participating political partiesdo not accept it? Moreover, the spate between the MQM and the PTI does not appear tobe ending here, as another PTI leader in hyderabad reported their house was ransacked.The aftershocks of NA-250 appear to be dangerous and need to be curbed immediately.

WITh the first civilian power transition coming to its end, everyone that hasany stakes in the matters political is trying to ensure they retain theirinfluence. Given the unique position Pakistan’s military holds in our

politics, it is no wonder that the Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani went to seethe future Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, at his residence in Lahore. Themeeting may have been dubbed a “routine one” by both parties, its timing and theduration it lasted are surely not a routine. Nawaz Sharif has yet to take oath as primeminister; he is not in government rather government in waiting. So what compelledGen Kayani, the most powerful military leader in the country, to visit a leader whosegovernment is yet to take control of the reins in Islamabad?

Observers have dubbed the meeting as unusual, though looking at Kayani’s recent pastactions doesn’t make it any suspicious. he telephoned Imran Khan a few days ago toinquire after his health. Apparently, he wants to have smooth relations with the nextcivilian government setup. A good step, if that indeed is the intention. however, certaindevelopments make the sceptics be on their toes. As Gen Kayani is due to retire byNovember this year, another extension in his service might have come up though the NLeague supremo has been vocal against any extension. Kayani might also want to makesure the military and political leaderships are on the same page regarding war on terrorism.Also, with the US due to leave Afghanistan in the hands of Afghans, a unified strategy is amust to tackle the issues creating right thereof and thereafter, if a repeat of the effects ofthe last US withdrawal are to be avoided. Moreover, Pakistan’s military has taken a clearstand against the terrorists, as Gen Kayani’s past statements suggest, which appears to beat odds with the stand that the PML-N leader has taken recently. After the TTP designatedPML-N as one of the parties they were willing to talk to for peace, the N League, a rightwing conservative party, has been vocal in taking up their offer for real. If that indeed iswhat the two leaders discussed – some of the PML-N’s leaders have said that the meetingrevolved around issues of internal and external security – then there is nothing to it.

But there is one other matter that may just spoil all the good things out of thismeeting: what to do with former dictator General Pervez Musharraf. If Gen Kayaniinsisted on saving his former boss, as certain events hint at like Ijazul haq saying that“Musharraf will leave the country before swearing-in of the new (PML-N)government” and Ashraf Ghumman withdrawing his petition on judges’ detention casein the ‘larger national interest’, the sceptics might be right that there was an agendabehind the meeting. And that doesn’t sound too good for democracy and justice.Nonetheless, one hopes that both the sides have been, and prove to be, wiser andneither causes any harm to the democratic process or obstruct justice.

Zahra Shahid’s murder, mqm boycott mars re-poll

Monday, 20 May, 2013

10

Sharifs ride the punjab wheel of fortune, again

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusivelyEditor’s mail

ONe outstanding corol-lary of Pakistan’s elec-toral science is thatwhoever wins Punjab –the country’s most pop-

ulous province with 148 out of 272general seats of the National Assemblyon offer – is pretty much home and dry.

This is why PML-N despite onlyscoring big in Punjab gets to rule thecountry again – and with their kind ofnumbers, decisively.

Nawaz Sharif’s return as primeminister for the third time was wellscripted as a number of national andinternational opinion polls precedingthe vote had predicted.

What has taken most pundits bysurprise however is the scale of man-date PML-N has received from the crit-ical bastion of power in the Pakistanimatrix. Still, there is a sense of disbeliefat the roughshod riding since it flies inthe face of strong projections in themedia ahead of the polls, in which rivalPTI appeared to be giving the PML-Nsleepless nights as it surged in publicreckoning with a kinetic campaign thatculminated with an emotional appealfor the electorate not to miss a goldenopportunity to change the old orderfrom a hospital bed after Imran Khanfell from a 15ft high fork-lifter at a rallytwo days from closing time.

The dramatic images of the fall gal-vanized a disparate nation with evenSharif forced to cancel rallies for a dayas a sympathy wave surged across Pak-istan for its revered cricket hero.

however, the end results show thismay not have contributed to the even-tual tally in any meaningful way, if atall. The ‘PTI factor’ – easily thebiggest draw of Pakistan’s 10thgeneralelections – is deserving of a separatepiece, perhaps, in the coming weeks.

Apparently, the electorate in Pun-jab chose to go with experience, leav-ing Khan with a window to learn theropes in opposition.

But the capitulation of the PPP didcontribute enormously to the PML-N’s return to power. While it was ex-pected the former would take a bit ofa hammering, again, the scale ofbludgeoning has embarrassed analystsover their pre-poll calculations.

however, what cannot be deniedis that the PML-N’s was always thebig ticket for Circa ’13 as was evidentin how droves of wannabe parliamen-tarians from other parties flocked toRaiwind in the months leading up tothe polls.

In fact, the process was started inearnest last year as Sharif forged al-liances with a number of politicalgroups or parties to reinforce his po-litical capital. In bare knuckle terms,the PML-N won the day thanks to itscalculated ploy of herding electablesof all hues.

The party had the right mix to gowith it as Punjab chief minister Shah-baz Sharif did more than just raisepopulist slogans: he delivered with ahandful of public welfare schemeswith a strong shelf life in terms of po-litical capital as usual.

You have to hand it to the Sharifsfor always calibrating projects that areetched in public memory, bringingthem a windfall each time they go tothe hustings.

The recently built Metro bus sys-tem in Lahore, spread over 27km andcovering dozens of residential andcommercial localities along the city’smain lowbrow artery – like the Motor-way and Yellow Cab scheme of yester-years – are all a stellar reminder everyday about who delivered them!

even though ‘intellectual’ criti-cism about launching mega projects atthe expense of improving basic infra-structure persists, at the end of the day,the public visibility of road networksand the plying yellow cabs handed outin the 1990s and also more recently oneasy loans perhaps overrides the argu-ment at least in the public perception.

Coming back to the polls, eventhough the european Union largely de-clared polling ‘satisfactory’ at 90 percent of the polling stations and its chiefobserver Michael Gahler felt the over-all exercise was “a step forward to-wards democracy”, seriousirregularities in 10 per cent of thepolling stations mainly in the Sindh

province were also cited.Punjab itself was not immune from

cries of foul play with the PTI up inarms. Subsequently, serious allega-tions of irregularities were also leveledby other parties, citing vote snatching,stamping of ballots by party activistsand/or polling staff, delayed arrival ofpolling staff and material, clashes be-tween political activists and, in the oddcase, even candidates, and last but notleast, even the kidnapping of poll staffand candidates!

What is evident from dozens ofvideos and hundreds of individualcases of being at the receiving end ofan unfair poll exercise is: the electionCommission as well as the law enforc-ing agencies failed in their singular ob-ligation of ensuring an error-free andintimidation-free poll.

Indeed, Fakhruddin G Ibrahim, theoctogenarian chief election commis-sioner, invited ridicule when he calledthe conduct of ‘free and fair’ polls as a‘gift from us’ whilst referring to the“kidnapping of polling staff and re-polling in 43 stations of a con-stituency” in the same breath!

The social media was chock-a-block with evidences of rigging partic-ularly, indicting the Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) in Karachi, whoseactivists were allegedly caught in theact in multiple videos indulging in co-ercive measures.

having said that, rigging allega-tions are nothing new as anyone witheven remote Pakistani electoral expe-rience will tell you. however, it marksthe first time these have made an im-pact with recorded evidence sincethese were the first elections con-ducted in the presence of a robust elec-tronic media and a near-zealousoccupation of the social media cuttingacross the divide.

But it would be unfair not to givecredit to the valiant voters – a largenumber of whom were first timers, in-cluding the zestful youth and womeninspired by Imran Khan’s tremendousappeal – who defied militant threats tocome out in what marked one of thehighest turnouts in Pakistani history.

Pit this against the dozens ofkillings, including those of candidates,and the unavailability of a level playingfield for secular parties and you get anidea of how treacherous the terrain was.

The writer is Editor PiqueMagazine based in Islamabad. He canbe reached atkaamyabi@gmail.com

Monday MusingskAMRAN REHMAT

Extremes to the right and to the left

of any political dispute are always

wrong. –Dwight D Eisenhower

Speculations rife as to the purpose of the meeting

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:37 AM Page 10

coMMent CMonday, 20 May, 2013

11

I believe in a relatively equal society, supported by

institutions that limit extremes of wealth and poverty. I

believe in democracy, civil liberties, and the rule of law. That

makes me a liberal, and I’m proud of it. –Paul Krugman

The conflict inAfghanistan is unique inmany respects but thereis one obvious peculiar-

ity. The coalition there is trulyglobal in nature. The Taliban neverhad any formal state sponsor sup-plying sophisticated weaponry.During the Afghan jihad of the 80sit was the stinger missile that madeit impossible for the Russians tokeep relying on air power, and thisturned the tide of the war.

Overtime, the war against ter-ror progressed and shifted to vari-ous other fronts in the Middle eastand North Africa. As the warevolved the use of violence, to-wards whatever end, was outlawedwithin the realms of internationallaw. In other words, terrorist was no longer a freedom fighter for anyone.This obviously had far reaching consequences.

Nations of the region that had chronic insurgencies to deal with used the‘carte blanche’ of terrorism to suppress these movements. Then there were theautocratic Arab governments with a track record of poor governance and humanrights violations, and they too exploited the war to garner western support andlegitimacy. This dynamics played no less a role in stimulating the Arab awak-ening. Meanwhile, a perception began to emerge that NATO is shaping the newworld order under the garb of war against terror. This has gradually unnervedboth Russia and China, despite their own challenges with extremists.

The rules of the game have begun to decisively change in case of Syria, whichhad many tangents from the get go. The nature of the beast there was never likeIraq and Libya. For one, Syria is Iran’s closest ally, whose fall may isolate Iran ina way the sanctions have never been able to. Moreover, Assad’s regime has beenimportant to the balance of power in Lebanon, and by consequence the Middleeast peace process. Then there are concerns regarding Syria’s chemical weaponsthat could fall in the hands of Al-Qaeda and hezbollah, or militants linked to it,and then used against Israel. In this regard, Syria is similar to Iraq; the scare ofweapons of mass destruction was one of key pretexts for the second Gulf War.

however, the most important difference in case of Syria is the formal statesponsorship of various groups involved. For example, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,and western powers are supporting the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to topple theAssad regime. FSA’s complex relationship with AQ linked Sunni extremistsmeans that some weapons are ending up with groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra.These radicals are proving to be the most effective on the ground, and are wellsupplied through their own links in the Arab world.

Now that President Obama and other european nations are contemplating sup-plying arms directly to the Syrian opposition forces, Russia is conveying that itmeans to do the same, and may already be doing it, in support of the Assad regime.

Obviously, what is occurring in Syria is of serious concern for Israel. Itdoes not want Syrian chemical weapons and missiles to fall in the hands ofhezbollah or Jabhat al-Nusra. On the other hand, the West has its owndilemma; it cannot allow the Sunni or Shiite radicals to dominate the post-Assad scenario at the cost of nationalist opposition forces.

Reportedly, the meeting between PM Netanyahu and President Putin, heldin Sochi on May 14, did not go well. Russia warned Israel against anymoreairstrikes in Syria. Meanwhile, PM Netanyahu attempted to convince Putinnot to sell its sophisticated S-300 air defense system to Syria.

With no easy solution, heightened diplomacy is once again being wit-nessed between Russia, UK and US, with a proposed international conferencein a month seeking a political solution. The differences over if Assad shouldstay or go, remain. With Turkey being dragged in and Israel warning of morestrikes inside Syria, the region is at the precipice of a wider war.

Syrian response to a direct state intervention, such as continued Israeli air raids,is likely to come from its proxies. On the other hand, Israel has threatened morestrikes and going after the Assad regime, which it claims to have not done so far,if Syria deploys its proxies or provides sophisticated weapons to hezbollah.

There is now a growing likelihood that Syria is truly heading towardsa state meltdown that would involve a confrontation between Shiite hezbol-lah fighters, fighting in support of Assad regime, and Sunni AQ linked ex-tremists, such as Jabhat al-Nusra. The group recently claimed allegiance toAyman al Zawahiri and agreed to a merger with AQ in Iraq. Qatar in par-ticular is being blamed for providing support to the Sunni extremist groupsoperating in Syria to topple Assad from power. The scenario is likely topull extremists and jihadist elements from across the region.

On April 30th, hezbollah’s leader hassan Nasrallah warned of revenge ifthe shrine named after the grand daughter of Prophet Muhammad (PBUh),Sayida Zeinab, was to be desecrated. “If the shrine is destroyed things will getout of control,” Nasrallah commented. he also assured Assad of his support andthat hezbolllah would not let Syria fall to Israel, US or the Islamic radicals.

From the western and Israeli perspective in particular, the chaos in Syriaprovides a bizarre yet dangerous opportunity. It could end the war against ter-ror or insinuate it even more. The scenario could not get any better: religiouszealous fighting each other out to death and leading to a dramatic end to thewar against terror. The reality being one or the other type of radical, Shiite orSunni, is likely to prevail, while posing the question of where do matters gofrom there. Nonetheless, the Syrian conflict has now morphed with the re-gional and global tussles to shape a new order in the Middle east.

The writer is chief analyst at PoliTact, a Washington based futuristadvisory firm (www.PoliTact.com and http:twitter.com/politact) and can bereached at aansar@politact.com

Shiite, Sunni radicals to fight it out in middle east

ARIF ANSAR

The PML-N President and the fu-ture Prime Minister of Pakistan,Mian Nawaz Sharif, went toShaukat Khanum Memorial hos-

pital to inquire about the welfare of PTIchief Imran Khan and reportedly told the re-porters after the meeting that putting the bit-terness of the electoral campaign behind,both Imran Khan and he, had agreed to burythe hatchet and work together to surmountthe challenges facing the country. he alsomade it a point that he would respect themandate of PTI in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa.This gesture of Mian Nawaz Sharif is thebest example of humility in victory, a rarehuman trait. The large heartedness shownby Mian sahib has gone well with themasses and those who were apprehensiveabout the continuation of hostility and con-frontation between the two parties in thebackdrop of the heat generated during theelection campaign and the allegations of rig-ging in Punjab levelled by Imran Khan.

Imran Khan also needs to be compli-mented for reciprocating the goodwill gestureand political initiative of Mian Nawaz Sharif.Pakistan is at the crossroads and it can hardlyafford the continuation of confrontationamong the political entities. Mian sahib iswell advised to also recognise and respect themandate of the parties who have won major-ity seats in other provinces and discourage theunderhand wheeling and dealing to fabricatecoalitions in disregard to the mandate givenby the people. In Balochistan, which has asplit mandate, it would perhaps be in the fit-ness of things to work out an arrangementwhereby a Baloch nationalist, preferably

Akhtar Mengal, is installed as the chief min-ister. It will really help in tackling the insur-gency and removing the sense of deprivation.

It is really sad that some of the politicalparties are back to their old ways and tryingto cast doubts about the credibility of the en-tire electoral process by levelling allegationsof extensive rigging and even taking to streetsto put pressure on the eCP for re-polling inthose constituencies. The scenario in Karachiis particularly very regrettable. The MQMchief Altaf hussain, as usual, has committedthe indiscretion of hurling threats on the po-litical opponents and the media and even al-luded to separation of Karachi from Sindh.Though he has climbed down from earlierposturing and called off the sit-in by theworkers of the party, his convulsions have in-vited a very severe backlash. he needs to actmore responsibly as the words spoken aresometimes more damaging than the woundsinflicted by guns. Karachi is already like aseething volcano and therefore nothingshould be done to precipitate the crisis.

There is no denying the fact that a num-ber of instances of irregularities, mismanage-ment and administrative flaws in coordinationamong different agencies have occurred atsome places but there is no evidence of anyorganised rigging on a massive scale asbeing alleged by some parties. Therefore, in-stead of reinforcing the impression of beingsore losers, they should revisit their strate-gies and let the eCP look into the complaintsand come up with plausible solutions and re-medial actions as prescribed under law. TheeCP has already constituted 14 tribunals todeal with complaints pertaining to electionsand is also in contact with the political par-ties in a bid to redress their grievances.

The sapling of democracy needs to benurtured to become a strong tree capable ofweathering the gusty winds instead of beingtrampled by inflated egos and false prides.Democracy is the only way we can moveforward and leave a good legacy for the pos-terity. The political parties need to establishhealthy democratic norms and traditions andprove their commitment through concreteactions rather than words. Democracy is theart of possible. The political entities there-fore should not vie for something that is im-possible to achieve. The enormity andgravity of the challenges faced by the coun-try needs a concrete and determined coop-

erative effort by all the stakeholders to workout a broad based strategy to deal with thosechallenges. No single party, even enjoyingmajority in the legislatures can stabilise thelurching ship. The scenario emerging out ofthe electoral exercise also dictates the adop-tion of a cooperative approach.

It is said that wise people learn from theexperience of others while the fools learnthrough their own mistakes. Regrettably, weas a nation have failed on both counts. Nei-ther have we learnt from the experience ofothers nor have we learnt any lessons fromour own setbacks and tragedies. however,we cannot afford this luxury anymore.There is no escape from reality. The realityis that we are where we are due to theshenanigans of the military dictators andself-serving politicians who have ruled theroost and encouraged the politics of graftand entitlement and indulged in recklesscorruption which provided the predators toderail democracy repeatedly.

Neither was any attempt made to reformthe political system nor was a viable securitypolicy evolved to ward off the dangers lurk-ing on the horizon. Our economic policies re-grettably have been dominated by politicalconsiderations rather than being embedded ineconomic realities. The emphasis has beenmore on prestige projects in complete disre-gard to the necessity-led approach. All thishas to change and a new beginning made.The rulers will have to tell the truth to thepeople about the state of the economy and thesacrifices they will have to make for its re-vival, the true nature of the security threatand above all the political reforms that areneeded to improve the system of governance.

To accomplish these arduous tasks,some constitutional amendments and legalmeasures will have to be put in place,which will require an unstinted support ofall the political parties. It is now or never.Therefore all the political leaders will haveto set aside their narrow political interestsand work collectively for the national good.Politicking can wait for better times. Bring-ing about the required transformation willbe a big challenge for Mian sahib and it ishoped that he will not repeat the past mis-takes and prove himself equal to the trustreposed in him by the people.

The writer is an academic.

nawaz’s chancefor pml-n the way forward is to work together with other parties

MAlIk MUHAMMAD ASHRAF

Approachingintra-radicalconflict

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:37 AM Page 11

arts

AMonday, 20 May, 2013

12I will destroy my enemies by convertingthem to friends. –Maimonides

wATerHouse

HAPPywITH CooPerModel Suki Waterhouse is reportedly

happy with her casual relationship with

actor Bradley Cooper, but she hopes it

becomes serious gradually. "Suki asked

Harvey Weinstein to introduce her to

Bradley because she said she needed

to meet him. She wanted him and went

after him. Now they're together all the

time," femalefirst.co.uk quoted a

source as saying. Their relationship is

casual right now, but she is simply

happy to be with him. "She

understands his packed schedule which

he appreciates. Bradley really has a

thing for her right now. She would like

something more serious but knows

what he's about and accepts that. She's

just happy to be with him for now," the

source added. The 21-year-old has

been dating the "Hangover 3" actor

since meeting him at the Elle Style

Awards here in February. NEWS DESk

COURtEsy CONtACtMUsIC

Daft Punk recently admitted that they

were a little surprised by the furore sur-

rounding their fourth album, Random Ac-

cess Memories, confessing that they are

struggling to come to terms the huge an-

ticipation surrounding RAM. Speaking as a

long-time fan, I can concur with this con-

fusion, after all, where was it when the

band brought out the Tron Legacy O.S.T.

or Alive? If memory serves right, it wasn't

even around when the duo brought out

Human After All in 2005. Either way, the

French electronic duo's new release is now

one of the biggest moments of 2013 and

although the duo are quietly confident in

their work, an artist's confidence doesn't

always translate into a pleasant listen for

the rest of us. This review doesn't need to

talk about first single 'Get Lucky' too

much, we've all heard it and we all know

that it's an instant classic. The vivacious

disco-funk single doesn't come until after

the halfway point in the album though,

and this effervescent tone isn't really felt

on the album until the few tracks before

'Get Lucky' kick in. Ok, album opener

'Give Life Back To Music' contains all the

buoyancy of a million disco classics, but

the immediate aftermath is a much slower

progression, only gradually building until

we reach the foot-tappingly good mid-sec-

tion of the album, where we really begin

to hear those sought after disco grooves.

The album often drifts in and out of joy

and melancholy, and 'Give Life Back To

Music' carries both exuberance and a

sense of despondency, the closing bars

before the song changes to 'Game Of

Love,' retaining an inherent sense of sad-

ness, perhaps directed towards the duo's

longing for the era where disco reigned

supreme, and where their sound was

moulded from. 'Game of Love' has all the

makings of a brilliant heartbreak ballad,

comparing with past tracks 'Something

About Us' from their brilliant 2001 album

Discovery. But in terms of despondency,

the Chilly Gonzalez collaboration 'Within'

really stands out as the most heartbreak-

ing track. The opening lines 'There are so

many things that I don't

understand/there's a world within me that

I cannot explain' could stand for so many

things, but these 'things' and this 'world'

sound as though they are steeped in nos-

talgia. Daft Punk may be robots, but they

are robots with heart. As well as 'Get

Lucky,' 'Lose Yourself To Dance' is another

of the album's bonafied disco floor-fillers,

again enlisting the help of Pharrell and

Nile, and whilst these two really stand out

as the most disco-infused tracks, the band

never shy away from this brand. R.A.M is

as much of a homage to disco as it is an

original statement from the duo, as the

band have always worn their influences on

their sleeves, it's just on RAM that their

sleeves are much larger and easier to

recognise. But it isn't just the distant past

where the duo have taken their influences,

and all of the songs sound as though they

only belong in the present day. The Panda

Bear collaboration 'Doin' It Right' being

the perfect blend of EDM and alternative

electronic indie, two of the defining genres

of our time that the French duo helped es-

tablish in the first place. There are a few

songs on the album that are particularly

interesting and I'm still finding it difficult

to make my mind on whether they are

amazing or just really long. 'Giorgio by

Moroder' is by far one of the most fasci-

nating cuts on the album, one that even

after multiple listens is still hard to deci-

pher; is it a sprawling masterpiece, or is it

an over-long self-congratulatory anthem

by and for disco's greatest contributors of

past and present? Likewise, 'Touch,' which

features Paul Williams, is a mammoth,

multi-facetted number that breaks up the

flow of the album in the same way 'Giorgio

by Moroder' does. Both of these songs re-

tain a cinematic quality to them, some-

thing that will no doubt have stemmed

from their involvement on Tron: Legacy

and from working with Williams. But this

cinematic experience doesn't just begin

and end here; the opener 'Give Life Back

To Music,' 'Beyond,' 'Motherboard' and al-

bum closer 'Contact' also stand out as re-

taining a cinematic quality that exists

through all of the album. Random Access

Memories is meant as a grand statement

form the band after all, and their

grandiose production really puts this

statement into practice. There are good

dance acts out there now, somewhere, of-

fering something a little different, but it is-

n't out there in the open where everyone

can see it. Maybe this is why there is such

anticipation around RAM then; Daft Punk

have always been at the forefront of elec-

tronic music and history dictates that

whenever a new Daft Punk album comes

out, it tends to influence the next few

years of dance music to come, bringing a

little something new to the table that will

spread out across much of the main-

stream. Much of the album, with its

throwback elements, seem to be Daft

Punk's disappointed response to the cur-

rent state of the EDM scene - a scene

which they effectively helped create in the

late 90's/early 2000's. The thing is, RAM is

hardly a break from the norm really, it

sounds exactly like a Daft Punk album, the

stuff they do, and only they can do. The

group said in the build-up to the album

that they were incorporating influences

from the past as well as looking to the fu-

ture, but haven't they always done that?

Daft Punk: Random Access Memories Album Review

CAnneS: (L-r) guest, actor Jacky

Woo, director Adolfo Alix Jr and

Sam Milby attend the 'Death

March' photocall during the 66th

Annual Cannes Film Festival at the

palais des Festivals on Sunday.

NEWs DEsK

tWO days in confinement atArthur Road Jail, actor San-jay Dutt is already feelingthe heat. On his first meeting

with his lawyer on Saturday, Dutt spokeof how "clueless" he was at the jail andhow he had been discreetly packed in abarrack, with his friend and co-convictYusuf Nulwalla. At present, only Nul-walla is lodged with him.

"he does not know which barrack hehas been kept in. Usually, lawyer meet-ings happen at a designated area but

Sanjay was called to the superinten-dent's office today to speak," said lawyerRizwan Merchant.

Dutt, who is lodged in an ‘undertri-als’ prison, will have to be shifted to anyof the convict prisons in the state. how-ever, sources said there was no confir-mation when and where Dutt would beshifted. "Security is our priority," a sen-ior jail official said.

While Dutt hoped to be taken to Yer-awada, to spend rest of his sentence,Merchant said there was no clarity if thiswould happen. "Kersi Adajania, whowas in Mumbai after his conviction, has

been taken to Nashik prison. Despite 83-year-old Adajania's health, he wasshifted."

Yerawada prison happens to be oneof the better maintained jails in Maha-rashtra. "It is sinking in slowly. Dutthopes he is not sent to an ill-maintainedprison," Merchant added.

Another convict, Zaibunissa Kazi(70), who has been sentenced for fiveyears, plans to appear before court onMonday. "her health has been bad. Shehad to be hospitalised last week. how-ever, she has no choice but to surrender,"her daughter said.

Dutt meets lawyer, hopes heis sent to Yerawada prison

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:37 AM Page 12

13artsMonday, 20 May, 2013

A

Nobody realises that some people

expend tremendous energy merely

to be normal. –Albert Camus

KIM KArdAsHIAn

exPeCTIngbAby gIrlPregnant reality star Kim Kardashian

has fuelled rumours she is expecting a

daughter with rapper Kanye West as

the invitations to her baby shower

feature a dancing ballerina. The

socialite's sisters Kourtney and Khloe

are hosting a special bash for the

mother-to-be on June 2. They have

spared no expense when sending out

the party invitations, which

appropriately contain music boxes that,

when opened, play West's song Hey

Mama and put into motion a twirling

toy ballerina, reported E! online. The

over-the-top mailings have prompted

many to suspect the socialite and

fashion designer is planning for a girl,

especially since photographers snapped

multiple photos of Kardashian's

assistant carrying a pink-themed baby

gift basket into her home in April.

Actress-turned-TV host Kathie Lee

Gifford, who is the beauty's godmother,

first sparked speculation the couple

was expecting a girl on a TV show in

February, when she said Kardashian

was "four months pregnant, I think

now with her little girl". Kim is due to

give birth in July. NEWS DESk

HeIdI KluMsPAresweeKendsfor KIdsGerman supermodel Heidi Klum always

keeps her weekends free for her

children. The 39-year-old raises kids

Leni, nine, Henry, seven, Johan, six and

Lou, three, with former husband Seal.

Despite her busy schedule, she tries to

spend quality time with them whenever

possible. "I keep weekends open and

wrap my workday at a reasonable hour

so I'm home for dinner and bedtime

stories," contactmusic.com quoted Klum

as saying. NEWS DESk

sHeen, Mueller’sKIds beTTer offwITH rICHArdsActor Charlie Sheen apparently feels that

it's a good idea to let his sons stay in the

custody of Denise Richards, while their

mother Brook Mueller is in rehab.

Richards, who was married to Sheen for

four years before parting ways in 2006, is

looking after his four-year-old twins Bob

and Max because he cannot take care of

them on his own. Sheen and Mueller got

married in 2008 and they separated in

2011. "Denise and Charlie have a very

close relationship now. He knew he could

count on her. Charlie knows he can't take

care of them on his own. NEWS DESk

AFter four very eventful

years together, robert

pattinson and Kristen

Stewart are taking a much-

needed break, a source close

to pattinson, 27, tells Us

Weekly. Additional pattinson

insiders add that the British

actor and Stewart, 23, have

been "having problems" and

"fighting a lot," with things

coming to a head on pattin-

son's 27th birthday May 13.

Still, the first source adds that

the much-scrutinized romance

could go either way, and that a

reconciliation is certainly pos-

sible. Just one week before the

bitter birthday argument that

led to the current split, in fact,

the twosome were happily af-

fectionate at nYC's Cabin,

where pattinson met Stewart

following her solo appearance

at the Met gala. Former child

star Stewart met the British

actor when they were cast op-

posite one another in 2008's

twilight, the first of five block-

buster films based on Stephe-

nie Meyer's bestselling vam-

pire book series. As the movie

phenomenon exploded over

the years, the twosome very,

very slowly went public with

their romance. NEWS DESk

KrIsTen,roberT

breAK uP

NEWs DEsK

Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor has con-fessed that his heart beats for dancing divaMadhuri Dixit, with whom he did a spe-cial song for his upcoming film YehJaawani hain Deewani.

The 30-year-old actor, who is oftenlinked with his co-stars, said he considersthe actresses in his films as his 'friends'.

"They (my co-stars) are my friends. Iwork with them in films and perhaps thatis the reason why people keep talkingabout us. My heart only beats for onewoman and her name is Madhuri Dixit.Through this film, my childhood dream ofdancing with her is fulfilled. I feel verylucky to work with her," he said duringthe promotion of the film.

Ranbir shared the screen space withMadhuri for an item song 'Ghagra' in thefilm, which will hit theatres on May 31.The actor also revealed that he was theone who suggested director Ayan

Mukherjee to add a kissing scene at theend of the number. "I do not know if Iwould get such a chance in life again ornot. The kissing scene took four retakesand must say that I have not done theseretakes intentionally," he added.

Referring to Madhuri as his 'Dreamgirl', he continued, "When she comes onthe screen, light spreads in all the direc-tions." Ranbir, who got maximum famefor portraying a deaf and mute boy in'Barfi', said he would not like to play asimilar character like the one he played inAnurag Basu's film.

"I want to play new characters now.My wish is to work in action, thriller-sus-pense and period films," he said.

Asked if he would like to reprise anyof the character played by his father RishiKapoor in his films, Ranbir said, "I am abig fan of my father because he is a fineactor. But I don't feel repeating any of hischaracters. I would not be able to do jus-tice to them."

Ranbir Kapoor took four takes to kiss Madhuri

NEWs DEsK

Actor Arshad Warsi, who played Circuitin the "Munna Bhai" films with SanjayDutt essaying the lead role, says hewon't do any new film in the popularfranchise without the real "MunnaBhai". he says neither can he, nor willaudiences be able to see anybody else inthe role instead of Sanjay, who is cur-rently in jail serving his sentence in the1993 Mumbai blasts case.

"I can't (work in the film withoutSanjay) because for that character, youcan't think of any other person now.That character has a definite structureand a definite personality that matchesa lot with that of Sanju's personality,"Arshad said on the sidelines of the DVDlaunch of his last release "Jolly LLB"."I think somewhere down the line, ouraudience has enjoyed Sanju (in the film)and they are stuck with him. They willnot be able to see anybody. Neither canI imagine anybody else," added the 45-year-old. The first two "Munna Bhai"

films - "Munna Bhai M.B.B.S" (2003)and "Lage Raho Munna Bhai" (2006)featured Sanjay and Arshad. Thesemovies, directed by Rajkumar hirani,

made their characters iconic. A third"Munna Bhai" film was in the pipelines,but the makers have put it on hold untilSanjay comes out of prison.

won’t do ‘Munna Bhai’ filmwithout sanjay: arshad warsi

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:37 AM Page 13

NEWs DEsK

Minnesota CongresswomanMichelle Bachmann courted contro-versy today by claiming that falafeland other "jihadi foods" should bebanned from school lunches in theUnited States.

In an interview with local tele-vision stationKSTP in Minneapolis,Bachmann explained that after vis-iting a local elementary school shewas shocked to find that falafel - afried vegetable patty popular in theArab world - was being served as aoption on the vegetarian menu.

Ostensibly in the studio to dis-cuss her close race for reelectionagainst Democratic challenger JimGraves, Bachmann instead used thetime to appeal for a nationwidemovement against Arab cuisine.

Startled by the parochial natureof her statements, KSTP anchorChris Johnson felt obliged to chal-lenge her reasoning:

"I have to ask Ms. Bachmann,why is that a problem? I mean somechildren like the taste of falafel,what's wrong with that?"

"Chris, falafel is a gatewayfood," responded Bachmann, "Itstarts with falafel, then the kidsmove on to shawarma. After a whilethey say 'hey this tastes good, I won-der what else comes from Arabia?' "

"Before you know it our chil-dren are listening to Muslim music,reading the Koran, and plotting at-

tacks against the homeland.""We need to stop these terror

cakes now, before they infiltrate anyfurther." Bachmann stopped short ofadvocating a ban on all Arab food,saying that "responsible adults canprobably use Arab food safely inmoderation." however, she madeclear that she was frightened by thepace at which the cuisine has perme-ated the U.S.:

"I have a friend in Texas who hasto homeschool her children becauseher local public school forces stu-dents to eat hummus. Its everywherenow. This is really scary stuff."

Bachmann then intimated thatthe widespread use of Arab foods in

American schools could be the signof a conspiracy that goes all the wayto the top:

"I have no proof that PresidentObama is forcing our children to eatArab and Middle eastern food. Butit would certainly fit the pattern."

Bachmann has a history of con-troversial statements regardingIslam and the role of Muslims inAmerica.

She says her first priority uponreturning to congress will be to in-troduce a bill protecting America'schildren from the dangers of Muslimcooking: "We must ban falafel andother jihadi foods in schools beforeits too late."

NEWs DEsK

AFTeR nine years of hardMars roving, Mars ex-ploration Rover (MeR)Opportunity has broken a40-year-old extraterres-

trial distance record. On Thursday, thetenacious six-wheeled robot drove 80 me-ters (263 feet), nudging the total distancetraveled since landing on the red planet in2004 to 35.760 kilometers (22.220 miles).NASA’s previous distance record was heldby Apollo 17 astronauts eugene Cernanand harrison Schmitt when, in December1972, they drove their Lunar Roving Ve-hicle 35.744 kilometers (22.210 miles)over the lunar surface.

“The record we established with a rov-ing vehicle was made to be broken, andI’m excited and proud to be able to passthe torch to Opportunity,” Cernan told JimRice of NASA Goddard Space Flight Cen-ter and Opportunity team member in aconversation about the possibility of therover exceeding the 40-year-old record afew days ago. Opportunity may beNASA’s record-breaking hot-rod, but ithas a few hundred meters left to go beforeit smashes the international extraterrestrialland-distance record. In 1973, the SovietUnion’s Lunokhod 2 remote-controlledmoon rover roved 37 kilometers (23 miles)across the lunar surface and, so far, re-mains the undisputed champion of dis-tance driving on an extraterrestrial surface.

But Opportunity is nearly there. Untilrecently, the NASA rover has been inves-tigating the “Cape York” area of endeav-our Crater’s rim at Meridiani Planum. It iscurrently en route to a new location called“Solander Point,” 2.2 kilometers (1.4miles) away, so we can expect the interna-tional roving record to be smashed withinweeks. Sadly, Opportunity’s sister roverSpirit wasn’t the distance-runner like hersibling. Spirit, although still a highly suc-cessful rover mission, conked out at a re-

spectable 7.7 kilometers (4.8 miles) afterbecoming stuck in a sand trap in GusevCrater. Spirit was declared lost in 2010.Both rovers have surpassed all expecta-tions, considering their primary missionwas only supposed to last three months.HoW Far Has opportUnity

reaLLy traveLed?

In July 2012, shortly before the excit-ing landing of NASA’s newest and most

sophisticated rover, Curiosity, inside GaleCrater, the MeR team wanted to point outthat their veteran rover had almost rolleda marathon. It still hasn’t quite reached themagic 26.2 mile mark (the official distanceof a marathon), I thought it interesting tocompare Opportunity’s odometer withsome other, more familiar distances.

So, in honor of Opportunity hold-ing the NASA distance record, here are

those distances, updated: Opportunity has traveled……almost nine laps of the Daytona

Motor Speedway NASCAR track (one lap= 2.5 miles)

…178 furlongs. Which is nearly five-times the distance a horse will run duringthe British Grand National.

…four-times the distance an activebasketball player will run during a game.

InfotaInMent

IMonday, 20 May, 2013

14

nAvy dolPHInsMAKe AMAzIngTorPedo fInd

some of earth'soldest water found

Life is what happens while

you are busy making other

plans. –John Lennon

We must ban falafel in school lunches: Bachmann

A Georgia woman

who lost both

hands, her left leg,

and her right foot

after contracting a

flesh-eating

disease has been

fitted with

prosthetic hands.

Aimee Copeland, 25, has been fitted

with a pair of hands with 24

programmable functions that will

improve her dexterity. She got the "i-

limbs" from Touch Bionics of Ohio in

exchange for serving as an ambassador

of sorts for the company. Normally,

they cost about $120,000 each. "I

really want to be able to get back in

the kitchen and start cooking some

delicious vegetarian meals for myself,"

the grad student tells CNN. Copeland

contracted a rare infection called

necrotizing fasciitis in May 2012 after

falling from a zip line and gashing her

leg. She spent two months at a rehab

clinic in Atlanta, learning to move, eat,

and bathe without prosthetics, and now

lives in a newly constructed wing of her

parents' home. She hopes to have a

prosthetic leg later this year. NEWS DESk

"Old" might not top the list of the adjectives you'd

use to describe water, but that could very well

change after reading this story: Scientists say

they've found water whose age clocks in at no less

than 1.5 billion years, making it the oldest cache to

have ever been discovered. (As the BBC explains,

the only water to top it is "minute quantities"

contained in some rock minerals.) Gold miners in

Timmins, Ontario, were the ones who uncovered the

water while drilling into bedrock; NPR reports that

the team behind the discovery had been requesting

such samples from a number of mines; a trio of

dating techniques revealed this particular water to

be remarkable—between 1.5 billion and 2.6 billion

years old. The BBC reports the water likely didn't

begin its ancient life 1.5 miles beneath the surface:

It would have seeped from above ground through

the earth, eventually becoming trapped. As a

geochemist involved in the study explains, "The

fluids that we see now are actually preservations of

ancient oceans." But that may not be the most

interesting part: The water, which contains a good

deal of hydrogen, could hold ancient life, too, and

the scientists are currently testing samples to see if

that's the case. And if it is, that could fuel hope that

the same kind of life persists on Mars, which was

once covered in oceans as well. NEWS DESk

The discovery itself is notable enough:

Navy specialists found a rare torpedo

off the San Diego coast, an 11-foot

brass gem called the Howell that dates

back 130 years or so and was one of

the first torpedoes to propel itself,

reports dvids. Only 50 were made, and

only one other one still exists. But

what makes the story even better is

that the Navy specialists who found it

were trained dolphins, reports the Los

Angeles Times. "Dolphins naturally

possess the most sophisticated sonar

known to man," explains a specialist at

the Space and Naval Warfare Systems

Center Pacific. "We've never found

anything like this," says the head of

the Navy's marine mammal program.

"Never." Give credit to dolphins Ten

and Spetz for finding the torpedo,

stamped "USN No. 24," and then

directing human divers to the spot.

The torpedo, rendered inoperable by

its long stay in the ocean, is now being

cleaned and readied for display at the

Naval History and Heritage Command

in Washington. “It was the first torpedo

that could be released into the ocean

and follow a track," says another SSC

official, and that made it a state-of-

the-art weapon in its day. NEWS DESk

sTudenT HIT byflesH-eATIngbACTerIA geTsbIonIC HAnds

opportunity breaks nAsA's40-year roving record

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:38 AM Page 14

We're just waiting to make sure all three are happy with theiroffers. I think they're great contracts, but they want to sign themat the same time and I can't see it not happening. –Mark Lawn

S15

sPortsMonday, 20 May, 2013

sPORts DEsK

the BCCI working committee,which will meet in Chennai onSunday, is unlikely to imposea life ban on the four cricketers

allegedly involved in spot-fixing. Theemergent working committee was calledto discuss the implications of theinvolvement of Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan,Ajit Chandila and Amit Singh in the spot-fixing controversy.

While some may perceive it asinaction, the working committee's decisionis influenced by a constitutional clause.According to the board's constitution, alife ban cannot be imposed on a cricketer,who breaches the players' code, for 30days after an internal inquiry committee isconstituted. "Taking that into account, itwould be unjust to ban the players for lifebefore the formal and internalinvestigations are completed," a BCCIfunctionary told eSPNcricinfo, preferringanonymity. "That doesn't mean the BCCIis taking the matter lightly. Immediatelyafter Delhi Police arrested these cricketers,the Board suspended all of them pendinginquiry."

If the BCCI acts in haste and bansplayers against the provisions of theirconstitution, the decision can bechallenged in court.

Apart from briefing all the workingcommittee members on the informationpassed on by Delhi Police, one of thekey matters on the agenda will be toratify the appointment of Ravi Sawani tolead the one-man inquiry commission.Sawani, head of BCCI's newly formedanti-corruption and security unit(ACSU), had been appointed toinvestigate the matter, IPL chairman,Rajeev Shukla said on Friday. The BCCIconstitution gives its president the rightto appoint an inquiry committee,provided the working committee ratifiesit within 48 hours.

Sawani has been invited to attend themeeting along with the ICC's ACSU chief,YP Singh. Since the BCCI's ACSU is in itsnascent stages, IPL's anti-corruptionactivities have been outsourced to ICC'sACSU for an annual fee of approximatelyUS$1.2 million. The BCCI top brass isinclined to review ACSU's mechanism. Itis learned that the board officials willattempt to identify the loopholes in IPL'ssecurity and discuss means to improvemechanisms that prevent players frombeing approached by bookies.

With the BCCI facing criticism fromall corners for ignoring the player-bookienexus and allowing the fixing syndrometo grow rapidly, their decision to discussthe issue in detail with the ICC ACSU,

and not question them, may be viewed asan exercise to pass the buck. But a BCCIsource clarified that it was a "genuineattempt" to make the system as foolproofas possible to restore the credibility ofthe game.

hours after the Royals players werearrested in Mumbai in the wee hours ofThursday, a day after their match againstMumbai Indians, the BCCI suspended allthree cricketers pending inquiry. Thedecision came even before the DelhiPolice publicly revealed the evidencecollected against the cricketers. OnFriday, after realising that former Royalsand Gujarat cricketer, Amit Singh wasarrested as a bookie, the BCCI suspendedhim as well.

bcci to regULate pLayer

agents: In the light of the spot-fixingcontroversy, the Indian board has decidedthat all player agents will need to beaccredited. The BCCI president NSrinivasan has said steps will be taken tomonitor access to players. It was alsodecided that one anti-corruption officialwill be appointed to each team who willalways accompany the teams along with asecurity officer.

The BCCI has appointed its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU)chief Ravi Sawani as commissioner of aninquiry into the spot-fixing issue. Sawaniwill present his findings to the BCCI'sdisciplinary committee, after which theIndian board will decide what action to

take on the three players. The decision wasrevealed by Srinivasan following anemergency working committee meeting ofthe board in Chennai to discuss thecontroversy.

Srinivasan also said that RajasthanRoyals will file a police complaint againstthree of their players arrested earlier thisweek on allegations of spot-fixing. he saidthe BCCI itself will not press legalcharges. "We are advised that the BCCI byitself cannot because they (the players) arecontracted to the franchise, the franchiseis filing."

Betting on sports, except horse-racing,is illegal in India and since the controversybroke, there have been demands forlegalising betting, but Srinivasan wasn'tsure that would solve the problem. "Inother countries they have legalised bettingand it has helped control ... but I do notknow as far as India is concerned."

Srinivasan also acknowledged thelimitations of the ACSU in stoppingcorruption in cricket. "They can't gatherinformation like police can. They can't tapphones. They have got a lot ofrestrictions," he said. "Not being a policeorganisation, we are handicapped when itcomes to control over bookies."

The BCCI meeting was convenedafter three cricketers playing in the IPL -Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and AjitChandila - were arrested by Delhi Policefor their alleged involvement in spot-fixing. Amit Singh, a former Royalscricketer, was arrested as a bookie.

BCCI had suspended the fourcricketers, pending enquiry, after thecontroversy occurred. The three Royalsplayers were arrested on Thursday byDelhi Police for allegedly indulging inspot-fixing during three IPL matches. TheDelhi Police also arrested several bookiesfor their role in the matter.

sPORts DEsK

They come here this week to take on Ireland'scricketers in two internationals, but thebenighted land of Pakistan has little to cheerabout these days. The geo-political fall-out ofthe Afghan Wars has drawn it into the grimbattle between the West and Islamistterrorism. And its 183 million people – it isthe sixth most populous country in the world– haven't been able to forget their troublesthrough sport either. Its hockey and squashplayers led the world through the 1970s and'80s but have fallen back and it is more than20 years since Pakistan won a majortournament in either sport. Cricket hasassumed an even greater role in unifying thenation, especially after Imran Khan led it toWorld Cup victory in 1992, and it hascontinued to produce some of the mosttalented and exciting players in the game.

But on a sunny March morning in 2009the claws of terrorism reached for the sportand it has yet to shake off its grip. A smallconvoy left a hotel in downtown Lahore for

the Gaddafi Stadium, carrying match officialsand the Sri Lankan team. As the minibusescircled the roundabout in Liberty Square, theywere attacked with grenades and AK47gunfire by 12 militants. Six policemen andtwo civilians died, and six of the players andumpires were injured.

Since that moment not a single ball hasbeen bowled in an official internationalfixture in Pakistan, and the chances of ithappening in the near future are slim.Bangladesh have twice pulled out of tours inthe past year, and a 'home' Pakistan seriesagainst South Africa in November has alreadybeen allocated to UAe. No one has beenconvicted of the massacre and last monthehsan Mani, former ICC president, playeddown the chances of a resumption of games:"Those were exceedingly tragic events notonly for Pakistan cricket and for millions offans, but for me they are more tragic becausethere has never been a comprehensive inquiryof the mishap." Ireland could play a role inrepairing the sport in Pakistan. Cricket IrelandCeO Warren Deutrom wants his team to

travel there when the time is right."The Pakistan Cricket Board has proven

a very strong supporter of Irish Cricket inagreeing to play here on a number ofoccasions over the last few years, for whichwe are incredibly grateful," he told the SundayIndependent. "They have asked us whether wewould consider a reciprocal visit, and I havetold PCB that we would be very willing tocontemplate this, provided that we could havethe requisite comfort levels around safety andsecurity levels for the squad while there. "Weinvestigated the possibility of touring Pakistanearlier this year, but Government advice andan assessment by a professional securitycompany clearly recommended that it was notcurrently safe to do so. "Our willingness totour is not empty rhetoric. I spoke directly withIntikhab Alam, who represents Pakistan at theICC, and stressed to him that Irish cricketspent decades trying to persuade teams to playin Northern Ireland during the Troubles, so weare hugely sympathetic to the fact thatPakistani cricket fans are being deprived ofinternational cricket at home.

bCCI unlIKely To IMPoselIfe bAn durIng MeeTIng

‘JIJu Janardhanan was lIKesreesanth’s satellIte’neW DeLHI: Kerala Cricket Association secretary TC Mathew on Sunday

revealed that pacer S Sreesanth was indeed very close to Jiju Janardhanan,

and called him the "satellite" of the tainted speedster. "He (Jiju) is always

around Sreesanth as a satellite. We used to see him around Sreesanth not

only in Kerala but in abroad also. When Sreesanth moves in the city he is

always seen in his car. May be we thought he is a close friend of Sreesanth,"

Mathew told a news channel. "Being a Malayali, he is eligible to play for Kerala.

That's why may be Sreesanth brought him here to help him make it to the

Ranji squad," he said. Jiju was among the 11 bookmakers arrested by the

Delhi Police for alleged spot-fixing in the T20 League matches. "We never

suspected his intentions. We only watched him as a normal person. One thing

people used to know about him was that he was always around Sreesanth," he

added. The Mumbai police on Saturday said that they had raided a five-star

hotel and searched the rooms independently booked in name of Sreesanth and

Jiju Janardhan in the city and found laptop, ipad, mobile and diary which

appeared to be of the cricketer. Addressing reporters in Mumbai, joint

commissioner of police Himanshu Roy said, "We are recreating the movements

of Sreesanth and Jiju on May 14th morning through CCTV footage. We shall be

able to make a final comment only after analysing evidence." AGENCIES

Ireland may have role in Pakistan’s return to fold

Cricket Australiareports warner forTwitter outburst

sPORts DEsK

David Warner's alleged Twitter outburst onSaturday has resulted in the batsman beingreported for 'unbecoming behaviour' by CricketAustralia. In a media release, Cricket Australiastated that Warner had breached the Code ofBehaviour and he would be expected to attenda disciplinary hearing. Warner is alleged tohave breached Rule 6, which states: "Playersand officials must not at any time engage inbehaviour unbecoming to a representativeplayer or official that could (a) bring them orthe game of cricket into disrepute or (b) beharmful to the interests of cricket. This ruleapplies at all times where the unbecomingbehaviour involves the player being involved inpublic comment or comment to or in themedia." The details of the disciplinary hearingwill be released by Cricket Australia onMonday. Warner is currently playing in the IPLfor the Delhi Daredevils franchise.

‘More playersinvolved in spot-fixing’

NEW DELHIAGENCIES

Indian police said on Sunday they had widenedtheir probe into cricket spot-fixing after thearrest of three players and 11 bookmakers,warning that more teams were under themicroscope. Test discard ShanthakumaranSreesanth was among a trio of players from theRajasthan Royals arrested on May 16 overallegations they agreed to bowl badly duringthe Indian Premier League in exchange for tensof thousands of dollars. Speaking to AFP, DelhiPolice Commissioner Neeraj Kumar saidplayers for some of the other eight teamsinvolved in the ongoing domestic Twenty20competition were now under suspicion.

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:38 AM Page 16

sPorts S

Monday, 20 May, 2013

16The team lacked belief in their football,

they didn't have faith and you can't afford

to do that against Valencia. –Luis Garcia

sAuberConfIdenT ofMore Progress

sPORts DEsK

Sauber is confident it has made progresswith solving the rear-end instabilityproblem that held it back early in theseason.The Swiss squad tried a new rear wingin last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix,which was found to be a step forward.Chief designer Matt Morris believes thatthe team now has the foundation forcontinued improvements."Yes, we feel so," he said. "It shows inour data and also in the drive comments,so that is positive. "It's always good when you targetthings, then you bring them and they dowhat you expect. "It's a small step but we need to make afurther one."Although Sauber pairing Nicohulkenberg and esteban Gutierrezmanaged only 15th and 16th inqualifying in Spain, Morris is optimisticabout the pace of the Sauber C32.In the race, the car was stronger, withGutierrez finishing just three tenths of asecond off the points and hulkenberglosing a strong chance of points when heclipped the rear of Jean-eric Vergne'sScuderia Toro Rosso after what wasdeemed an unsafe release from a pitstop."We have closed our race paceperformance to our competitors and evenon qualifying performance I don't thinkwe are so far away," said Morris."But it's clearly not where we want to beand we need to work hard and put somemore performance on the car."Further upgrades are expected for nextweekend's Monaco Grand Prix, with theteam continuing to push hard ondevelopment."We have got a lot of stuff in thepipeline," said Morris. "We have moreparts in design at the moment, so as soonas we can get them made we will bebringing them to the track."

LORD'sAGENCIES

iN a destructive spell of pacebowling, Stuart Broad blew awayNew Zealand with career-bestfigures of 7 for 44 as england

surged to a 170-run victory at Lord's. A Testthat had begun at a cautious pace hurtled toa conclusion less than hour after lunch onthe fourth day with New Zealanddismantled for 68.

Broad took the first five of his wicketsin 5.4 overs before lunch to crush NewZealand's hopes that would have beenreasonably high just an hour earlier afterTim Southee, with just the second ten-wicket haul by a New Zealander at Lord's,had instigated another collapse, englandlosing their last eight wickets for 54 datingback to Joe Root's dismissal on the thirdevening. Yet, to show that days of hard workcan be undone in the blink of eye, they wentto lunch six down having lost their captain,Brendon McCullum, on the stroke of thebreak to give Broad his eighth five-wickethaul and remove their last hope of makinga dent in the target.

history was still weighted against NewZealand at the beginning of their pursuit of239. Only two sides had chased more to winat Lord's: West Indies against england in1984 and england against New Zealand in2004. Still, with the sun peeping throughand the day a touch warmer they might havebeen expected to get closer than they did.

Instead, Broad produced one of the eye-popping bursts that have been dottedthrough his Test career and which make itall the more exasperating when he appearsto divert from the full length that makes himsuch a threat. The only wicket he took witha short ball was when Southee dimly pulledto deep square-leg. When he bowled BruceMartin, who was suffering a calf strain thatcould end his tour, he had his second haulof seven at Lord's following his previouscareer-best against West Indies last year.

For the first time since 1936, englandhad just two men bowl unchanged througha completed all-out innings, although Broadand James Anderson did not quite share allten wickets. The last fell to a chaotic run outafter one of the substitute fielders, AdamDobb, had not quite been able to gather atop-edged hook from Neil Wagner, whothen ended up in the middle of the pitch. Itwas New Zealand's sixth-lowest totalagainst england. After bringing somesolidity back to their batting, this was areprise of the efforts that haunted NewZealand on the tour of South Africa. Peter

Fulton played a big hand in his demise whenhe fiddled outside off to a delivery he shouldhave left alone, completing a match thatmade his twin hundreds in Auckland feel alifetime ago. hamish Rutherford, though,could do little about the ball he received,which seamed away off middle andextracted the off stump.

Two deliveries later Broad addedanother, the key wicket of Ross Taylor,whose aggressive approach knockedengland off their stride in the first innings,with a ball that seamed away and was edgedlow to first slip where Alastair Cook took anexcellent catch. Like Fulton, Taylor may

consider that he did not need to play but theearly adrenalin of an innings can be difficultto control.

Broad's next success came in slightlymore unconventional fashion for an openingbowler against the top order when KaneWilliamson, the epitome of technicalcorrectness and calmness, drove a fiercecatch to catch to extra cover, which knockedSteven Finn off his feet.

Anderson compounded New Zealand'sproblems by producing one of thedismissals of the match. After hooping adelivery viciously back between DeanBrownlie's bat and pad - unplayable was a

term not out of place - he then made the nextdelivery hold its line outside off stump andthe batsman edged to first slip. McCullumtried to make a statement by not resisting hisshots but was taken on the pad; he used theDRS - he had to - but the impact was just inline with off stump.

The final outcome was tremendouslytough on Southee, whose six second-inningswickets had come in the space of 52 ballsfrom late on the third day and placed himalongside Dion Nash on the ten-wicketshonours board. In a hint of what was tofollow over the next three hours, Finn (whowould never have believed he would not beneeded with the ball) edged the fifth ball ofthe day into the slips to begin a processionof 14 batsmen falling for 101.

Southee's five-wicket haul camewhen Ian Bell, still suffering fromtonsillitis, edged loosely to third slip buthis personal success will be scantconsolation after what followed.

broad’s best securescrushing win

ENGlAND 232

NEW ZEAlAND 207

ENGlAND 2nd innings

ST Finn c sub (MJ Guptill) b Southee 6

IR Bel c Brownlie b Southee 6

SCJ Broad not out 26

GP Swann c McCullum b Southee 1

JM Anderson c Southee b Williamson 0

EXTRAS (b 3, w 1, nb 2) 6

Total 213

FAll OF WICkETS 1-36 (Cook, 8.4 ov), 2-36 (Compton, 9.5

ov), 3-159 (Root, 49.6 ov), 4-167 (Bairstow, 53.1 ov), 5-171 (Prior,

55.4 ov), 6-171 (Trott, 56.2 ov), 7-183 (Finn, 59.5 ov), 8-200

(Bell, 63.2 ov), 9-210 (Swann, 67.3 ov), 10-213 (Anderson, 68.3

ov)

BOWlING

TA Boult 15-3-56-1, TG Southee 19-4-50-6, N Wagner 13-2-44-

1, BP Martin 13-2-40-0, kS Williamson 8.3-2-20-2

NEW ZEAlAND 2nd innings

PG Fulton c †Prior b Broad 1

HD Rutherford b Broad 9

kS Williamson c Finn b Broad 6

lRPl Taylor c Cook b Broad 0

DG Brownlie c Cook b Anderson 5

BB McCullum* lbw b Broad 8

BJ Watling† c Trott b Anderson 13

TG Southee c Root b Broad 7

N Wagner run out (Bairstow/Anderson) 17

BP Martin b Broad 1

TA Boult not out 0

EXTRAS (lb 1) 1

TOTAl 68

FAll OF WICkETS 1-1 (Fulton, 1.3 ov), 2-16 (Rutherford, 5.1 ov),

3-16 (Taylor, 5.3 ov), 4-21 (Williamson, 9.4 ov), 5-25 (Brownlie,

10.4 ov), 6-29 (McCullum, 11.4 ov), 7-41 (Southee, 15.2 ov), 8-

54 (Watling, 18.4 ov), 9-67 (Martin, 21.6 ov), 10-68 (Wagner,

22.3 ov)

BOWlING

JM Anderson 11.3-5-23-2, SCJ Broad 11-0-44-7

Match details

Toss England, who chose to bat

Series England led the 2-match series 1-0

Player of the match tba

Umpires Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and SJ Davis (Australia)

TV umpire M Erasmus (South Africa)

Match referee DC Boon (Australia)

Reserve umpire PJ Hartley

SCOREBOARD

BANgALOREAGENCIES

It was worth the wait for the thousandswho braved the rain at theChinnaswamy Stadium, as RoyalChallengers Bangalore kept theirplayoff hopes alive by batting ChennaiSuper Kings out of the game, reducedto eight overs-a-side. Nothing less thantwo points would have kept RoyalChallengers in the race, and theirprayers were answered when the raineventually relented, allowing for a11pm start. Virat Kohli led from thefront with a blistering fifty to lift RoyalChallengers to 106, but for a change hisbowlers didn't let him down. havingticked off one box, Royal Challengerswill be hoping for Sunrisers hyderabadto lose to Kolkata Knight Riders onSunday for a possible backdoor entry tothe playoffs.

Royal Challengers made a soundtactical move by opening with thecaptain Kohli, in place of Cheteshwar

Pujara, who was dropped based on theteam's immediate demand - quick runsat the top. The uninhibited Kohli wasthe aggressor in the opening stand andbatted in one gear till the end, facingmore than half of the number of balls ofthe innings and scoring at a strike-rateof close to 200.

MS Dhoni opened with R Ashwin,presumably to keep Chris Gayle incheck, but the batsman ended upplaying only three deliveries off him.Kohli regularly used his feet against theoffspinner, smothering the spin bygetting to the pitch of the ball andlaunching him down the ground. hepicked up his first six by lofting acarom ball over long-on.

At the end of five overs, RoyalChallengers blazed to 66, thanks tothree consecutive sixes over deepmidwicket by Gayle off Jason holder.Gayle and AB de Villiers holed out tothe deep but importantly, RoyalChallengers never allowed thosedismissals to stall them. Kohli looked

ominous with his flat sixes down theground and he found an able partner inMoises henriques, who ripped intoMohit Sharma to help take the scorepast 100.

There was little at stake for SuperKings, apart from carrying momentuminto the playoffs. Unlike RoyalChallengers' move to promote Kohli,Super Kings were relativelyconservative in their approach, nottinkering with their opening pair and,strangely, keeping Dhoni to No.5.Michael hussey departed early, MVijay struggled to get his fluencygoing, and the Royal Challengersbowlers got the ball to swing andbounce more than their opponentsmanaged. At the halfway stage of thechase, Royal Challengers held the edgewith the score at 29 for 3. With 40needed off the last over, the game wasRoyal Challengers' to lose. ZaheerKhan was the pick of the bowlers,nipping out four wickets in two overs inan eight-over contest.

Over to Sunrisers after RCB win

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:38 AM Page 17

sPortsS

Monday, 20 May, 2013

17I always said I’d only leave Flamengo if

the club reached a deal with Juventus,

but that didn’t happen. – Mattheus

sPORts DEsK

Northern Irishman one down after eight, following 3&2 winover Branden Grace this morning

Graeme McDowell produced a flawless display to bookhis place in the final of the Volvo World Match PlayChampionship this morning, but got off to a shaky start in thedecider against Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee.

The Northern Irishman was two down through six atThracian Cliffs in Kavarna, Bulgaria, after Jaidee birdied thesecond and fourth, but he claimed one hole back on theseventh.

McDowell, runner-up last year to Ryder Cup team-mateNicolas Colsaerts, was eight under par for the 16 holes requiredthis morning to beat South Africa’s Branden Grace 3&2.

MAnCInIdeserved MoreTIMe: KeegAn

sPORts DEsK

Former Manchester City manager KevinKeegan has said he was surprised by thetiming of Roberto Mancini's sacking.Keegan, who managed City between 2001and 2005, admitted the club had failed tobuild on the success of winning theBarclays Premier League and said that wasnot entirely Mancini's fault. A year to theday that City won a thrilling final day gameagainst QPR to pip rivals ManchesterUnited to the title, Mancini was told hisservices were no longer required. Keegantold BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweekprogramme: "(It's) surprising if you look atthe length of time, but if you look at what'shappening in football now (it's) notsurprising at all." he added: "It was aseason where they (the club and themanager) didn't build on the last season.They didn't make any progress and, in fact,they took a step backwards." The formerengland manager felt City should havegone on to more success after Manciniadded the Premier League title to the FA

Cup and Community Shield."They made a mistake

in that they didn'tstrengthen the side

in the right wayhaving wonsomething.The

signings thisseason havebeen poor

and that'swhat cost

them."

sPORts DEsK

Celtic finished off their Clydesdale BankPremier League campaign in style with aconvincing 4-0 win over Dundee United atTannadice. Kris Commons gave thechampions the lead with a 30-yard free-kickin the 11th minute before Georgios Samarashelped himself to a double, the first with adeflected drive in the 17th minute and thesecond a header 10 minutes later.

Neil Lennon's side retained their grip onproceedings in the second half, but onlyadded to their lead with five minutesremaining when substitute Anthony Stokes,on for Commons, made it 4-0, also with thehelp of a deflection.

It was a perfect warm-up for the hoopsahead of next week's William hill ScottishCup final against hibernian at hampdenwhere they will look to clinch the double.

For United boss Jackie McNamara itwas confirmation of the problems he willhave to solve for next season, most ofwhich, on this evidence, lie in defence. TheCeltic supporters started the match dishingout stick to United captain Jon Daly, who isset to join Rangers next season, and itappeared to unsettle the Irishman, who wasplaying in central defence. In the seventh

minute he clattered into Commons outsidethe area and when the free-kick waswhipped in by the same hoops player theball came off Daly and almost spun pastUnited keeper Radoslaw Cierzniak.

A few minutes later Daly again broughtCommons crashing to the ground 30 yardsfrom goal, in a more central position, andthis time the former Nottingham Forest andDerby player curled the free-kick lowaround the wall and past the flailingCierzniak. United were contributing to theirown problems.

In the 14th minute Barry Douglas waspenalised for bring down Paddy McCourt30 yards from goal when there was noimminent danger and Commons was ontarget again with another powerful free-kick. however, this time Cierzniak tippedthe ball on to the post before the homedefence cleared it to safety. however, the

second goal was only moments away andcame via Samaras's shot from inside thebox which took a marked deflection offUnited defender John Souttar beforelooping over the helpless Tannadicekeeper.

Gary hooper and Commons hadattempts from long range which flew wideof the target, but in the 26th minute Celtickeeper Fraser Forster had to rush off hisline to block at the feet of Rory Bouldingbefore Mark Millar tested the englishmanwith a decent drive.

however, that was about the sum totalof the home side's first-half resistance. Aminute later, after midfielder Millar hadconceded a foul on hooper wide on theright, Celtic scored again when Samarasleapt high inside the packed United six-yard box to head in Commons' whipped-infree-kick.

Celtic finish season in style

McDowell trails Jaideein world Match Play final

Inverness denIedTHIrd sPoT

sPORts DEsK

Inverness were denied a europa Leagueplace following their first highland derbydefeat of the season to Ross County.Andre hainault's well-executed volleytwo minutes before the break, coupledwith St Johnstone's 2-0 win overMotherwell, saw Caley Thistle fall at thefinal hurdle in their quest to seal anunlikely european debut. Inverness hadnot lost in five games against theDingwall side this season but they weresecond best today after struggling to copewithout several midfielders. It was a cruelend to their most successful season, whichalso saw them lose a ScottishCommunities League Cup semi-finalpenalty shootout to hearts. TerryButcher's side had not been out of theClydesdale Bank Premier League topthree since November and had the chanceto seal a european spot last weekend butblew a one-goal lead at home to DundeeUnited. Their problems started before thegame. With Richie Foran and Ross Drapersuspended, Inverness started with a four-man midfield with an average age of 20.Owain Tudur Jones, who has come off thebench in recent weeks as he stalls on acontract offer, was a surprise absence. TheWales international has been a key playerthis season and his physical presence andcomposure was missed as Caley Thistlestarted with defenders Charlie Taylor andDanny Devine in central midfield.Another surprise was the introduction of19-year-old Conor Pepper for his firstappearance of 2013 and only his secondSPL start. he only lasted 36 minutesbefore limping off for Nick Ross.County had Paul Gallacher making hisdebut in goal after Michael Fraser wasinjured in training on Friday and heenjoyed an unexpectedly comfortableafternoon. The home side had seen theireuropean hopes ended with defeat atMotherwell last weekend but highlandpride and a desire to end their best seasonon a high ensured the opening stages werekeenly contested.Inverness created the first chance whenAaron Doran's corner found Devine inspace at the back post but he could not gethis half-volley on target.County began to get the ball down andcontrol play and they created their firstchance on 20 minutes when Ivan Sproulegot in front of a defender to meetevangelos Oikonomou's low cross but hisfirst-time effort just cleared the top corner.There was an aggressive undercurrent tothe game and Sproule and Graeme Shinniewere soon booked following a clash.

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:38 AM Page 18

ESPNMLB Regular Season: DetroitTigers vs. Texas Rangers

05:30 AM

sPorts SMonday, 20 May, 2013

18We are happy because winning here is

always difficult, it has always been a hard

place for us to come to. –Philippe Montanier

wAtCh It LIve

STAR SPORTSMaxis Football

Extra 2012/13

8:30 AM

ITAlIAn oPenfInAl feATuresTwo of THebesT rIvAlrIesIn TennIsroMe: Rafael Nadal and Roger

Federer will meet for the 30th time

Sunday in the final of the Italian

Open. Nadal cruised past Tomas

Berdych 6-2, 6-4 in the first

semifinal Saturday and Federer

pulled out a scratchy win over

surprise semifinalist Benoit Paire 7-6

(5), 6-4 in the evening session. It

will be the first meeting in a final

between the two since the 2011

French Open, where Nadal prevailed

in four sets. Nadal leads the head-

to-head 19-10, including a 12-2

edge on clay and 13-6 advantage in

finals. “It’s nice to have those

revival moments for the both of us

because we’ve had some epics,

particularly in finals,” Federer said.

“I’m sure we’re both looking forward

to it. I clearly am.”

Federer will come into Sunday’s final

as an even bigger underdog than

he’s previously been on clay. Since

Nadal returned in February after

missing seven months with a knee

injury, he has made the final of all

eight tournaments he’s played

(seven of which were one clay) and

won five with a chance for six on

Sunday. That remarkable run will

propel him to No. 1 in the Race for

London rankings on Monday,

meaning despite spilling the first

month of the season, he has

accumulated more rankings points in

2013 than Australian Open

champion Novak Djokovic and

Australian Open finalist and Miami

champion Andy Murray.

Nadal says he played one of his best

sets of tennis in the first set against

Berdych on Saturday and he’s

brimming with confidence. If he

wins on Sunday, Nadal will take over

the No. 4 ranking and head into the

French Open as the No. 4 seed.

“The first set was fantastic,” Nadal

said after beating Berdych. “I think I

played one of the best matches

since I am back.” While Nadal has

been a runaway train upon returning

to the tour, Federer’s season has yet

to gain much traction. Sunday will

mark his first final of the season and

he’s benefited from a very soft draw.

He has not faced a seed, let alone a

top 15 player, beating Potito

Starace, Gilles Simon, Jerzy

Janowicz and Paire. Federer sprayed

a surprising number of unforced

errors against Paire in the

semifinals, finishing with 19 winners

to 26 unforced errors. That’s a

winnable line against the erratic

Frenchman, but it won’t be enough

against Nadal.

“Rafa is a tough player for me to

play against,” Federer said. “He is

the best player on clay that we’ve

seen in such a long time, maybe in

history. I like the challenge playing

against him. I’m happy I get

another opportunity.” Federer has

played all four of his matches during

the night sessions in Rome, where

the air is markedly cooler, while

Nadal has played all his matches

during the day. Federer

acknowledged he had a quicker

turnaround for Sunday’s afternoon

final but no matter of fatigue would

play a role. AGENCIES

ROMEAGENCIES

WORLD number oneSerena Williams sweptBelarusian VictoriaAzarenka aside 6-1, 6-3

to win the Rome Open title on Sunday.Williams broke Azarenka's serve threetimes in a one-sided first set and despite atighter second set the American prevailedto stretch her career-best winning streakto 24 games. It was Williams's 51st careertitle and took her victory tally overAzarenka, who beat the American earlierthis season in the final of the Dohahardcourt event, to 12-2 in their series.

Azarenka had swept Sara erraniaside in the semi-final on Saturday witha powerful display of tennis which leftthe Italian, who only made the last four

after Russian second seed MariaSharapova pulled out, struggling tomount any kind of challenge.

however the tables were promptlyturned on the third-seeded Belarusian,who found herself on the end of aWilliams masterclass that has installedher as the favourite for next week'sFrench Open at Roland Garros.

Williams had complained after hersemi-final over Romanian qualifierSimona halep that she had beenunhappy with several elements of hergame, prompting a lengthy practice afterher match on Saturday.

Any hint of rustiness or nervesbefore the final were quickly put to bed.

Williams started in stunning fashion,breaking Azarenka's serve in the firstgame and going on to repeat that twicemore on her way to a crushing 6-1 score.

Azarenka upped her game in thesecond but despite showing some signsof resistence early on, Williams's farmore powerful serve and return left theBelarusian frustrated.

More often than not, the Americanrequired only two shots on her servicegame to take the required point, andAzarenka was given a warning by theumpire for an obscenity early in thesecond set. Azarenka did earn herself alifeline when she broke Williams in theseventh game after the American sent abackhand just outside the line.

But the top seed rattled off threeconsecutive games, including a break inthe eighth game, before finishing off thejob with a backhand winner down theline following two aces. It is Williams'ssecond title at Rome, having first wonthe event in 2002.

serenA sweePsAzArenKA AsIdeTo wIn roMe TITle

ROMEAGENCIES

Rafael Nadal set up a potential RomeMasters final with Swiss rival RogerFederer after dominating Tomas Berdych6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Berdych had caused the first majorupset of the tournament when he oustedworld number one Novak Djokovic onFriday.

however, despite an improved secondset performance against the fifth seed, theCzech could not match Nadal's power asthe Spaniard put himself within touch of asecond title inside a week following hisMadrid Masters triumph last Sunday.

Nadal admitted he was "very tired"after being pushed to three-set matches onhis way to the semi-final.

But the Spaniard sent his rivals aveiled warning when he said this displaywas the best he had produced since hiscomeback. "I think I did almost everythingwell," said Nadal.

"Changing direction, playing insidethe court, going to the net when I had thechance.

"I am very happy about the way Iplayed. I played one of my best matchessince I came back, that's my feeling."

Berdych had beaten Djokovic onFriday with a combination of big serves

and smart shots from the middle of thesecond set.

But the big Czech was given littlechance by six-time champion Nadal, whomade good on his intention to get thissemi-final over and done with as quicklyas possible.

Nadal, who has now reached eight

finals in as many events since his returnfrom a seven-month injury lay-off,collecting five titles in the process, brokeBerdych twice in the opening set,including in the opening game.

Berdych's chances of victory lookedslim considering the statistics -- he hadbeaten Nadal only three times in their 16

previous encounters. Only four of thosewere on clay, and all were won by theSpaniard.

Berdych started the second setpositively by holding serve, butsquandered his first break point in thenext.

This was a much tighter set, butBerdych's slim hopes were tempered by aNadal forehand winner in the ninth gamewhich gave him the break.

The Spaniard sealed the win in the10th game when Berdych sent a backhandreturn beyond the baseline.

"he starts really well and, of course,it's Rafa and we know how he plays onclay," said Berdych.

"It was a good start for him. YesterdayI had one chance that I did take and I won,and today I had one chance that I didn'ttake and I lost."

Nadal will meet Federer on Sunday ifthe Swiss second seed beats French upstartBenoit Paire in Saturday's second semi-final. Nadal will be looking for a 24thMasters title on Sunday.

he added: "eight finals in a row ismore than a dream for me. Five monthsago it was completely impossible to thinkabout something like this.

"Tomorrow I hope to play very well.If I win it will be fantastic, but if I lose itwill be okay as well."

Nadal into Rome Masters final after Berdych win

djoKovIC blAMesHIMself for exITNovak Djokovic admitted he only had

himself to blame after the world No 1 fell

victim to a stunning comeback from Tomas

Berdych to exit the Internazionali d'Italia at

the quarter-final stage. The Czech world No

6 rallied from 2-6 2-5 down to pull off a

battling 2-6 7-5 6-4 win over the top seed

in two hours and 22 minutes. SPORTS DESk

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:38 AM Page 19

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad.

Monday, 20 May, 201319

LHR 20-05-2013_Layout 1 5/20/2013 5:38 AM Page 20