lahore edition friday, 24 february, 2012 rabi-ul-sani 1, 1433rs15.00 Vol ii no 238 22 pages

Obama expresses‘deep regret’ over

Quran burningPAGE 18

Gul, Malik guidePakistan to victoryin T20 opener

Fed the most, did theleast

PAGE 21 PAGE 19

ISLAMABADSALmAN AbbAS

IN a major reconciliatory move, thegovernment on Thursday an-nounced to grant amnesty to Balochrebels, including BrahamdaghBugti, in view of the prevalent situ-

ation in Balochistan province.Interior Minister Rehman Malik made

the announcement as part of the govern-ment’s efforts to reconcile with them.

“We will withdraw all cases againstBaloch leaders, including Harbiyar Marriand Brahamdagh Bugti, but all of theleaders should return to Pakistan,” Maliksaid while talking to reporters after ameeting on Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochis-tan Package.

He told reporters that he had also metHarbiyar in London as some reconcilia-tory actions were needed to save the coun-

try, adding that he would himself welcomeBaloch leaders on their return to Pakistan.“There has to be a political solution to theBalochistan issue and immediate stepshave now become obligatory for the sakeof the country,” said Malik.

The interior minister said the govern-ment could also not get due response fromthe provincial president of JamhooriWatan Party (JWP), Shahzain Bugti andBilal Bugti, regarding its offer made tothem to nominate their leaders for talkswith the government.

He called upon the Baloch and na-tional leadership to attend the govern-ment’s All-Parties Conference (APC) onBalochistan. However, Malik expresseddissatisfaction over some political parties’

MonItoRIng DESk

The United States is “ready to get back tobusiness” with Pakistan after a diplomaticrow following a cross-border NATO at-tack on Pakistani troops, Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton said.

According to Economic Times, Clin-ton told this to Pakistani Foreign MinisterHina Rabbani Khar, who is on an officialvisit to the UK, on the sidelines of theLondon Conference on Somalia to ironout differences between the two coun-tries. According to reports, Pakistan Am-bassador to US Sherry Rehman was alsopresent during the meeting.

“We respect parliament’s right to ...take time to do this in a sensible way, butwe had to get ready to get back into busi-ness with Pakistan” on bilateral counter-terrorism issues including Afghanistan, asenior State Department official saidClinton told Khar. He said the US wouldrespect the parliamentary review butwanted to prepare for a return to “struc-tured conversations”.

The official said Clinton also toldKhar that the administration wanted toresume high-level visits to Pakistan byaid officials and Marc Grossman, thetop diplomatic envoy for Afghanistanand Pakistan.

Both the leaders discussed issues re-lated to mutual interest.

Clinton’s luncheon with Khar wasamong the few high-level contacts be-tween the two countries since the No-vember deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers

in a cross-border US air raid fromAfghanistan. While Khar told Clintonthat Pakistan would welcome a return toworking with the United States, the of-ficial did not sugar-coat the difficultiesof rebuilding the relationship after whatis expected to be tough recommenda-tions from parliament.

Before her meeting with Clinton,Khar told reporters parliament was cur-rently looking at “terms of re-engage-ment” with the United States.

“We hope that, for the goals that weshare that of peace and stability within

the region, Pakistan and the United Stateswill be able to foster their ties. However,there are certain pre-conditions for that,”Khar said. She said the United Statesshould work to establish a “predictable,transparent and sustainable” relationshipwith Pakistan based on both countries’mutual interest. In the past, “a differenttype of relationship has been pursued inthe dark of night and a different type indaylight,” Khar said. “We hope to be ableto combine the two and bring this rela-tionship credibility (in the eyes of) thepeople of Pakistan.”

Amnesty to BAloch reBels

Govt ready to forgive and forgetg Interior minister says Harbiyar Marri, BrahamdaghBugti to be forgiven if they return to Pakistan

US ready to get back to businesswith pakistan, Clinton tells Khar

ISLAMABADTAHiR NiAz

The memo scandal’s lead witness MansoorIjaz continued recording his testimony onThursday, with startling claims about howHussain Haqqani, the former Pakistani am-bassador to the US, okayed the memo’s finaldraft after securing approval from the “boss”(President Asif Ali Zardari) to seek Americanpressure for restricting “bad boys” – the chiefsof Pakistan Army and the ISI – from launch-ing a feared coup.

“After repeated confirmations that ambas-sador Haqqani has obtained approval from the‘boss’, and it was after his go-ahead signal thatI forwarded the final draft of the memoran-dum to General James Jones at 1:28am onMay 10, 2011, who forwarded the same toMike Mullen on the very next day followed bya phone call either from the US president orMike Mullen himself to ‘Pindi’,” Ijaz told thememo commission via video link from thePakistani High Commission in London.

The Pakistani-American businessmancontinued from where he had left on Wednes-day, the first day of recording his statement,and presented more documents to the judicialcommission in support of his claim that hedrafted and delivered the memo to the top USofficials on the advice of former ambassadorto the US Hussain Haqqani.

“On May 10, 2011, around 9am, I calledHaqqani at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Lon-don, and told that the message had been sentto the US interlocutor and also discussed thecontents of the memo. I enquired from himwhether he had obtained the approval (fromthe “boss”) and he responded: he has boss’s ap-proval and gave me a go-ahead, by which hemeant the delivery of the memo to JamesJones. At that time, it might be the assumptionof Haqqani that Jones would be the interlocu-tor. It is possible that Haqqani assumed that Iwould choose James Jones as interlocutor,” hetold the enquiry tribunal from London.

“On May 11, I received a message fromJones that Mansoor message delivered,” Ijazclaimed. He further said that Haqqani wantedthe memo delivered to Mullen ahead of ascheduled meeting between the former USmilitary chief and some Pakistani officials.

Ijaz said he had sent the first draft of thememorandum to Haqqani on May 9. “I madea four minutes call to Haqqani to inform himthat the memo had been drafted. After send-ing a copy of the draft memo to Haqqani, Icalled James Jones. I informed him that Ihave conveyed Haqqani that the message hasto be in writing and has the requisite authorityof the highest authority in Pakistan,” he said,adding that he had sent a message to Haqqani

PESHAWARSTAff REPORT

At least 12 people, including two chil-dren, were killed and more than 50 in-jured as a result of a high intensity carbomb explosion at a bus stand on Pe-shawar’s Kohat Road on Thursday.

The explosion led to the destruc-tion of more than a dozen passengercoaches and other vehicles.

Condition of several of the injured wassaid to be in danger and officials and doc-tors feared an increased number of casu-

alties. Per details, the explosion occurredin a car parked close to passenger coachesat the bus stand. The part of the bus ter-minal where the explosion occurred wasreserved for buses running between Pe-shawar and Miranshah, headquarters ofNorth Waziristan Agency. Officials con-firmed that it was a car bombing.

According to Shafqat Malik, the as-sistant inspector general of the BombDisposal Squad, around 45 kilo-grammes of explosives were used in thebomb, which was detonated with a re-mote control. However, it remains to be

ascertained whether the target was thepassengers at the terminal.

Police said 34 injured people hadbeen admitted to Lady Reading Hospitalin Peshawar and 31 to City Hospital onKohat Road. Soon after the explosion,senior civil and police officials rushed tothe area to supervise rescue activities.No group or individual has claimed re-sponsibility for the explosion so far.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa govern-ment has announced to pay compensa-tion to the heirs of those killed andinjured in the attack.

12 killed in peshawar car bombing

LONDON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton poses for a picture with Hina Rabbani

Khar during the Conference on Somalia at Lancaster House on Thursday. Afp

baloCh leaders rejeCt amnesty offer | page 02

PESHAWAR: A man mourns the death of a relative after a car bombing killed at least 12 people, including two children, ata bus terminal on Thursday. TARIQ AZIZ

Continued on page 04

The ‘boss’ wanted topre-empt ‘bad boys’: Ijazg Mansoor Ijaz concludes his testimony with detailed timeline ofhis communication with General James Jones and Hussain Haqqani

Continued on page 04

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02Friday, 24 February 2012

News

Today’s

LookQuick

lAHORe

Story on Page 07

newS

Story on Page 05

cARtOOn

Page 13

fed the most, did the least UK, Pakistan share a special bond, says Hina Khar

15 militants killed, 4 hideoutsdestroyed in Orakzai Agency

kALAYAiNP

At least 15 militants were killed and several injured whenfighter jets bombed their suspected hideouts in UpperOrakzai Agency on Thursday. Official sources said the jetsbombed the hideouts of militants in various areas of theagency, including Bermela, Khadizai, Mamozai, Samabazarand adjoining areas, destroying four hideouts of the militants.They said the jets were sent to bomb the hideouts after intelli-gence reports said militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pak-istan (TTP), led by TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, werehiding in the mountainous region bordering Afghanistan.They added that the death toll might rise further as severalmilitants had been reportedly trapped under the rubble of thedestroyed hideouts. The political administration and officialshave confirmed the airstrikes and causalities. Most of UpperOrakzai is in Taliban’s hands and the area witnesses frequentclashes between security forces and militants, however, gov-ernment troops are in control of the lower part of the agency.

Youth burnt in Faisalabad acid attack

FAISALABADiNP

In yet another incident of acid attack, a youth was burnt on apetty dispute here on Thursday. According to police, Aqil Buttand Jajji Butt after a petty dispute splashed acid on theircompanion Luqman while they were on the Sargodha Road,Faisalabad, and fled from the scene. As a result, Luqman, aresident of Chak No 7, sustained burn bounds. He was rushedto Allied Hospital, Faisalabad, where, according to hospitalsources, his condition is serious. The citizens of Faisalabadhave expressed concerns over the rapid increase in acidthrowing incidents and demanded the authorities concernedto take strict action against acid dealers and put a completeban on its sale. The police have registered a case against thenominated accused and started searching for them.

Rahim expected to join PPPISLAMABAD

iNP

Several PPP leaders havestarted efforts to persuadeformer Sindh CM ArbabGhulam Rahim to join theparty. Rahim was living inDubai for the last two yearsafter allegedly receivinglife threats from PresidentAsif Ali Zardari. Accordingto sources, a number ofPPP leaders met the for-mer CM and assured himthat no action will be taken

against him on his return. Sources said that Rahim was in-vited to join the PPP, as he had a good political standing inMirpur Khas, Tharparkar and other areas. According to re-ports, the PPP was facing a tough position in Sindh for itsfailure to arrest Benazir Bhutto’s killers and provide timelyrelief to flood affectees. According to sources, Rahim hadagreed to join the PPP but would make the final decision afterconsulting friends. Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Khuro hadresisted Rahim’s appointment as Sindh opposition leader.

QUEttASHAHzADA zULfiqAR

Amajority of Baloch leaders rejectedthe announcement made by InteriorMinister Rehman Malik of givingamnesty to Baloch rebels, calling himunreliable and his announcement

“impossible to implement”. They said that therewas no use of withdrawing cases against Bara-hamdgah Bugti and Harbiyar Marri who neitheraccepted the state nor the government.

They said had the minister announced to re-cover all missing persons, bring the responsible ofthe kill-and-dump policy to justice and the stop-page of ongoing military operation, it would havebeen much more productive and helpful.

Balochistan National Party President SardarAkhtar Mengal said like other Baloch nationalists,his party would also not to participate in the all-parties conference convened by the governmentthat was responsible for abduction of Baloch youthand their killing. He said Islamabad cheated theBaloch nation in the name of Holy Quran when

Nawab Naurooz Khan was brought from moun-tains under the oath of the holy book and laterthrown into prison and his sons and companionswere sent to the gallows. He said that in such cir-cumstances, “why should Baloch people rely on theinterior minister who even did not know how to re-cite Surah Akhlaas?”

He said the government did not demonstrateits seriousness towards Balochistan during the lastfour years and had the rulers did so, a workable so-lution would have been devised.

Mengal said those who were now making an-nouncement for withdrawal of cases against theBaloch leaders should tell the Baloch populationwhat action they would take against those respon-sible for killing the Baloch youth and throwingtheir bodies for the animals to eat.

Federal Minister Senator Mir Israrullah Zehri,President of PPP’s allied party BNP-A, also calledthe announcement by Malik a pack of lies, addingthat the interior minister was unable to remove asingle checkpost of Frontier Corps Balochistan.

He said despite being an ally of the PPP-ledcoalition, his party would not participate in the

APC on Balochistan unless the culprits involved inthe targeted killing of the wife and daughter ofMPA Nawabzada Bakhtiar Domki were not ex-posed. He said Malik was in a habit of makingsuch false claims and should not waste the nation’stime. National Party Senior Vice President SenatorMir Hasil Khan Bizenjo said he failed to under-stand the announcement, as cases against thoseBaloch leaders were being withdrawn who did notaccept the state or the PPP government in the firstplace.

He said it would have been better that confi-dence-building measures were taken for talks be-tween Baloch leaders and the government.

Bizenjo said these measures should includethe recovery of all missing persons and determina-tion of identity of those responsible for killing hun-dreds of Baloch missing persons.

Balochistan National Party acting president DrJahanzaib Jamadini said the rulers had startedtalking about Baloch issues after being stunned bythe introduction of a resolution in the US congress.

He said the government was trying to resolvethings when they had come to a point of no return.

iSLAmAbAD: People hold pictures of their missing relatives at a hunger-strike camp in front of Parliament House on Thursday. ONLINE

Majority of Baloch leaders reject govt’s amnesty offer

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03Friday, 24 February 2012

NewscOMMentAnother blast:

Articles on Page 12-13

We don’t need one-dimensional analysis off excel sheets.

Ending the stalemate:The US needs to apologise for the attack on Pakistani checkposts.

fahd Husain says:

qudssia Akhlaque says:Ride on, Raisani!: Balochistan has once again become the focus of attention.

Ali Rizvi says:US: the ally from hell: They decided it was time to play their trump, Baloch card.

FOReIGn newS

Story on Page 18

ARtS & enteRtAInMent

Story on Page 15

SPORtSTendulkar’s one-day future hangs in balance

Story on Page 18

Afghan soldier kills NATO troops amid violent protests Jennifer Aniston puts name in star on Walk of fame

The Baloch grievance: Balochistan appears to be on the verge of going its way.

Musharraf is not

involved in Benazir’s

murder: APMllAhOre: All Pakistan MuslimLeague (APML) Chief CoordinatorZahid Sarfaraz has said APML headand former president PervezMusharraf has no hand in theassassination of late PPP chairwomanBenazir Bhutto. “As matter of fact,Benazir’s killers are those whochanged her route and made her sit ina vehicle that had a sunroof. BaitullahMehsood and the Haqqani network arebeing repeatedly blamed to distractthe attention and hide the facts,” hesaid while addressing a pressconference at the APML provincialsecretariat on Thursday. Sarfaraz saidnobody but he himself had advisedMusharraf to not to return to Pakistan,saying since the day Musharraf hadannounced his homecoming, unresthad sparked in the government circles.“Musharraf stayed in Pakistan foreight months after stepping down butnobody filed any case against him,” hesaid. However, he assured that dayswere not far when the APML chiefwould be here among his people.Reacting to Interior Minister RehmanMalik’s statement, he said Interpol didnot have spare time to arrestMusharraf on Malik’s request. He saideveryone knew that Musharraf was notinvolved in the deaths of Benazir andAkbar Bugti. STAff REPORT

Hec releases

university rankingsLAHoRE

STAff REPORT

HEC on Thursday announced the ranking ofuniversities and some big names like PU, NCAand LUMS top their respective categories. Ac-cording to the HEC ranking QAU is at the topof the pile, while PU is the only versity of thecity in the top five.Overall Top 10 Universities1. Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad (2)Pakistan Institute of Engineering and AppliedSciences, Islamabad (3). The Agha Khan Uni-versity, Karachi (4) University of Agriculture,Faisalabad (5) University of the Punjab, La-hore(6) National University of Sciences andTechnology, Islamabad (7) Arid AgricultureUniversity, Rawalpindi (8) University ofHealth Sciences, Lahore (9) COMSATS Insti-tute of Information Technology (10) LahoreUniversity of Management Science

Category wise the top five universities were;AgricUlTUre/VeTerinAry: Universityof Agriculture, Faisalabad; Pir Mehr Ali ShahArid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi; Univer-sity of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore;KPK Agriculture University, Peshawar and SindhAgriculture University, Tandojam.ArT & Design: National College of Arts, La-hore and Indus Valley School of Arts and Archi-tecture, Karachi;cOmpUTer sciences & iT: COMSAT In-stitute of Information Tech Islamabad; NationalUniversity of Computer and Emerging Sciences ,Islamabad; Qurtaba University DI Khan;Balochistan University of Information Technol-ogy and Management Sciences, Quetta and CityUniversity, Peshawar.engineering & TechnOlOgy: Pak-istan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sci-ence, Islamabad;National University of Sciencesand Technology, Islamabad; Ghulam Institute ofEngineering and Technology , Swabi; Universityof Engineering and Technology , Taxila and In-stitute of Space Technology, Islamabad.generAl UniVersiTies (lArge): Uni-versity of the Punjab, Lahore; University ofKarachi, Karachi; Bahauddin Zakariya Univer-sity, Multan;University of Peshawar, Peshawar;and International Islamic University, IslamabadgenerAl UniVersiTies (OTher):Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad; Govern-ment College University, Lahore; Gomal Univer-sity, DI Khan; Kohat University of Science andTechnology and The University of Azad Jammu& KashmirBUsiness eDUcATiOn: Lahore Universityof Management Sciences, Lahore; Institute ofBusiness Administration, Karachi; Iqra Univer-sity, Karachi; Sukkur Institute of Business Ad-ministration and National College of BusinessAdministration & Economics, LahoremeDicAl: Agha Khan University,Karachi;University of Health Sciences, Lahore;Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi; IsraUniversity, Hyderabad and Khyber Medical Uni-versity, Peshawar.

ISLAMABADAPP

PA R L I A M E N T A R I A N Sfrom Pakistan and Indiaagree to enhance bilateralrelations and to resolve allthe disputes through nego-

tiations and dialogue, the Lok Sabhaspeaker and head of Indian parliamen-tary delegation, Meira Kumar said onThursday.

Addressing a dinner receptionhosted by Indian High CommissionerSharat Sabharwal here, she said, “Wewant to resolve all disputes through ne-gotiations and dialogue.”

Meira is leading a parliamentarydelegation to Pakistan on the invitationof National Assembly Speaker DrFehmida Mirza.

She said parliamentarians fromboth countries were playing a vital rolein promoting bilateral relations and en-hancing people-to-people contacts. Shesaid the dialogue process resumed be-tween Pakistan and India had beenmaking progress and expressed hopethat it would be useful for furtherstrengthening the ties between the twocountries. She said she had brought amessage of good wishes for the peopleof Pakistan from the people and parlia-ment of India, adding that people ofIndia wanted a strong friendship withthe people of Pakistan.

The Lok Sabha speaker said the par-liamentary groups of the two countries

should meet frequently so that parlia-mentarians could learn from each other,share ideas and exchange experiences.

Meira said the new visa regime cur-rently being examined by the interiorministries of the two countries would

also be helpful in promoting people-to-people relations as it would ease restric-tions for travelers between the twocountries. Referring to her visit to histor-ical places in Taxila, she said it showedthat the two countries had very close and

strong bonds of cultural heritage.She emphasised the need to pro-

mote interaction at all levels betweenthe two countries, adding that Indiawanted that its progress could be help-ful to its neighbours.

MPs playing due role in improving

bilateral ties: Lok Sabha speaker

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

Expressing concern over the role se-cret agencies have played in Balochis-tan, Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) andJamia Naeemia leaders blamed themfor being the root cause of separatisttendencies in the province and de-manded an independent high level en-quiry into missing persons and deadbodies, the halting of the military op-

eration and handing over theprovince’s charge to the civil govern-ment.

JWP president and son of slainBaloch elder Nawab Akbar Bugti, ShahZain Bugti, and Jamia Naeemia princi-pal Allama Raghib Naeemi were unitedon the stance while discussing the po-litical situation, especially Balochistan,at Jamia Naeemia on Thursday.

Sources said Shahzain Bugti madeclear no talks could be held with the

government unless Islamabad madeserious confidence building measuresto create trust among Baloch leadersand people. He said that the federalgovernment had only paid lip serviceto the Baloch and less that one percent of the much talked aboutBalochistan Package had been deliv-ered. He said the government’s claimsthat military had been recalled fromBalochistan and work on three pro-posed cantonments had been halted

were false.Before the APC proposed by Prime

Minister Gillani, Shahzain endorsedthe pre conditions set by PML-N chiefNawaz Sharif that the first governmentmust arrest the killers of Akbar Bugtiand recover all 13,000 missing Balochpeople. Shahzain, however, con-demned the murders of Punjabis inBalochistan but said reports suggestedsome of the killed were allegedly work-ing for the army.

DUBAIONLiNE

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf ChairmanImran Khan has said he can negotiatewith the Taliban to end the “so-calledwar on terrorism” if he is given the man-date to do so.

“I can talk to them if the govern-ment and parties concerned sanctionthis and ask me to get involved. I amready to talk to them in the best interestof the country because this war is bury-ing Pakistan,” Khan told to Gulf News.

Reacting to a question about theTaliban’s move to open an office inQatar, Khan said there was no harm init as it was the first positive step towards

holding talks with them. “I told the world some eight years

ago that there was no military solutionto this problem as the only way out is tohold talks and settle it politically but atthat time they called me ‘Taliban Khan’but now they all agree with me as they

could not win this so-called war on ter-rorism,” he said.

The PTI chief said it was importantfor Pakistan to get out of the US war onterrorism because the country had al-ready suffered losses to the tune of $50billion during the last 10 years leadingto economic crisis, poverty and instabil-ity. “The sooner we get out of this war,the quicker Pakistan will get back on itsfeet,” he added. He said he could find asolution by talking to them because heknew the area and the people.

Khan strongly condemned thetabling of a bill earlier this month in theUS House of Representatives callingupon Pakistan to recognise the right toself-determination for Balochistan.

‘Secret agencies cause of Baloch separatism’g Bugti, Jamia naeemia call for inquiry into missing persons, ‘kill-and-dump’

Imran says can negotiate with Taliban if asked

iSLAmAbAD: indian Lok Sabha Speaker meira Kumar meets with Jamiat Ulema-e-islam-fazl chief fazlur Rehman during a

reception hosted by indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal on Thursday. ONLINE

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:30 AM Page 3

Friday, 24 February, 2012

that the US Congress andPakistan’s parliamentarianscould play an important rolein this regard.

A Pakistani official, whosought anonymity, said thatPrime Minister Yousaf RazaGilani had also conveyed tothe congressmen Pakistan’sdeep annoyance over the res-olution on Balochistan in theUS Congress, while observingthat such acts would not helpthe ongoing efforts by bothsides to repair the damagedties.

The congressmen as-sured the prime minister thatthey would convey Pakistan’sconcerns over the resolution

to their fellow lawmakersafter returning to Washing-ton, the official said. “Theyalso told the prime ministerthat they don’t support theindependence of Balochis-tan,” he said.

According to the state-ment, the congressmen ex-pressed support for thegovernment’s policy aimed ateconomic development, ad-dressing the needs of educa-tion, health and providingemployment to the people ofthe country.

They also agreed thattrade, not aid, was the wayforward to economic develop-ment, and promotion of edu-cation and poverty alleviation

would help in combating theroot causes of extremism andterrorism.

The prime minister saidthat Pakistan wanted to haveexcellent relations with theUS, and that it was importantto follow a partnership basedon mutual interest and mu-tual respect.

Gilani reminded thatPakistan had made numeroussacrifices in the US-led waragainst terror. “The whole na-tion is united and the demo-cratic government has givenpolitical ownership to theanti-terrorism campaign,” hesaid.

The prime minister em-phasised that the use of mili-tary in Afghanistan does notprovide a permanent solu-tion. “Pakistan, therefore,

supported the politicalprocess leading to politicalsettlement in Afghanistan,”he said, adding that it was im-portant that Afghanistan,Pakistan and the US were onthe same page and worked to-gether to promote nationalreconciliation, peace and sta-bility in Afghanistan.

The prime minister drewthe attention of the congress-men to unilateral actionssuch as drone strikes, andcalled them “unacceptableand counter-productive”.

Earlier, the US delegationalso called on Senate Chair-man Farooq H Naek, whocalled for restoring friendlybilateral relations. “We desireto maintain good relationswith the US based on mutualtrust and shared interests.

Though our relation is pass-ing through challengingtimes, but we should work to-gether in unison to see thatirritants hampering our rela-tions should be removed asearly as possible.”

Naek said that because oflast year’s incidents like theRaymond Davis case, NATOattacks on Pakistani borderposts, the resolution onBalochistan as well as thenegative narratives publishedby the US media, the peopleof Pakistan had become ex-tremely concerned about thenature of their country’s rela-tions with the US.

Talking about the resolu-tion on Balochistan, Con-gressman David clarified thatwide ranging views exist inthe US on various issues, and

the said resolution by a Sub-Committee chairman doesnot represent the view of theUS government and Con-gress.

“I want to convey to thepeople of Pakistan and thegovernment of Pakistan thatthe US is committed to thesovereignty and territorial in-tegrity of Pakistan. We do notsupport independentBalochistan and only supportunited Pakistan. We supportstrong, vibrant civilian gov-ernment and in favour of con-tinuity of democratic processin Pakistan,” he said.

The US delegation in-cluded Congressmen JamesMoran, Joe Wilson, AdrianSmith, Kenny Merchant, andFather Patrick Conroy amongother senior officials.

US delegationContinued from page 22

opposition to the APC, say-ing that it had become a tra-dition for some politicalforces to always criticise thegovernment.

To discuss the law andorder in the country, partic-ularly in Balochistan, Inte-rior Minister Rehman Malikalso called on Prime Minis-ter Yousaf Raza Gilani.

The interior ministerbriefed the prime ministerabout a bomb blast in Pe-shawar and reiterated theresolve of the democraticgovernment to not get in-timidated by cowardly actsof terrorism.

The prime minister ex-pressed his sympathies withthe aggrieved families anddirected law enforcementagencies to make relentlessefforts to apprehend the cul-prits and bring them to jus-

tice.Earlier during the meet-

ing on Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package,deliberations were made onseveral recommendationsfor the welfare of Balochis-tan and its people.

According to the pressrelease issued by the Inte-rior Ministry, 15,000 younggraduates and post gradu-ates from Balochistanshould be given Rs 15,000/-per month internshipstipend in the Prime Minis-ter’s Internship forBalochistan programmedfor working as school teach-ers in the province.

The handout stated thatthe federal government shallrelease Rs 4 billion toWAPDA on account of itsshare of subsidy for farmersof Balochistan, adding that2,400 federal government

jobs would be filled on meritwith the assistance of MNAsand senators of Balochistan.

To encourage represen-tation of the government of-ficials at the federal level,any officer coming to Islam-abad on deputation wouldbe awarded a higher postthan his previous one.

It was also decided todouble the number of Be-nazir Income Support Pro-gramme beneficiaries from375,000 to 750,000 and thefederal Levis force shall beincreased by 3,000 throughfresh recruitment. A pro-posal was also floated dur-ing the meeting that freeeducation to current 150brilliant students fromBalochistan shall be in-creased to 500 in the nextacademic year and endow-ment fund of Rs 5 billionshall be created for its sus-

tainability.It was also said that the

Capital Development Au-thority (CDA) shall give onesuitable plot to the Balochis-tan government for con-struction of a students’hostel and officers’ hostel inIslamabad.

It was also decided thatthe Frontier Corp (FC)Balochistan would not moveto any district without thepermission of the DeputyCommissioner and nocheckpost would be estab-lished by FC without permis-sion of the Balochistan CM.

It was also decided thatthe FC and Coast Guardswould exercise powersunder Customs Act andstrictly in accordance withthe law and keep their de-ployment restricted towithin 10 Kms of the inter-national border.

Govt ready to forgive and forgetContinued from page 1

stating that the messagewould be delivered to Mullen.“Three minutes later, Haqqaniconfirmed receiving the draftof the memo. However, he in-formed that he was tweakingit. He told me that once oneobjective (delivery of the mes-sage) was achieved, thenHaqqani would get explicit ap-proval on the specifications ofthe operation to get the armydown”, he added.

Ijaz claimed that until thattime President Zardari wasnot aware of how Haqqaniwould get the army down, andhad general instructions to getthe military chief back. Hesaid that on May 10, he calledHaqqani and informed himthat three possible personscould deliver the message toMullen. “Two have alreadybacked out, as they wanted theletter on a letterhead andsigned by President Zardari,and these two options havebeen excluded,” he recalled ashaving told Haqqani. “Thethird one has agreed providedthat it (the memo) had the au-thority of the president of Pak-istan, to which Haqqani statedthat he had sorted it out withthe boss,” Ijaz claimed as hav-ing told Haqqani. “Immedi-ately after I called JamesJones I informed him that themessage would be in writingand he (Haqqani) would getapproval during the night.Haqqani again told me that hehad sorted out with the boss,however, I spoke to JamesJones and told him that au-thority would be solidified andmade explicit during thenight. The conversation withJames Jones concluded that Iwould be sending the memowithin the next hour, but hewould not forward the emailto Mike Mullen as Haqqani istweaking the memo. At1:28am on May 10, I sent thefinal draft to James Jonesfrom my email address in twofiles – one Word file and theother PDF file,” Ijaz submitted

before the commission. Healso produced a copy of theemail sent to Jones. He saidthat point six, which related tothe US access to the widows ofOsama bin Laden, was takenout from what turned out to bethe final draft of the memo-randum. On May 10, I sent acopy of the memo to JamesJones. “In this email, I de-noted Haqqani as ‘Baba’,” hefurther told the commission.Ijaz said the identity of JamesJones was kept hidden in theemail sent to Haqqani whichcontained the memo. “I didnot want Haqqani to knowwho was helping me,” Ijazadded.

“I wanted to protect theidentity of James Jones, andin my email, in which I for-warded the memo to Haqqani,I removed the address ofJones and instead insertedsomething else as secrecy. Inaddition, I made certain othermodifications to the body textof the email to ensure thatnothing could be traced backto Jones,” he added.

Continuing with his testi-mony, Ijaz said that JamesJones was sceptical and sur-prised if anyone in Pakistangovernment could talk thematters mentioned in thememo. He said that on May12, Haqqani informed himabout the meeting betweenMullen and Pakistani officials,and that a phone call could goout from the US president orMike Mullen to “Pindi”. Oncommunication with theBlackberry manufacturer, Re-search in Motion, for obtain-ing the record of thecommunication between himand Haqqani during a specifictime period, Ijaz told the com-mission that he was unable toobtain the data. He said thathe had already sent 12 emailsto the commission which con-tained all the requests by himor his lawyer to the RIM forobtaining the data.

Haqqani’s lawyer ZahidBukhari continued irritatingthe commission as well as Ijazwith his “unnecessary objec-tions” to the proceedings. At

one point, Ijaz got provokedwhen Bukhari objected to theproposal of Akram Sheikh thatIjaz should make a final re-quest to the RIM to release thedata. “I waived my privacyrights but Haqqani did not.Let the commission know onwhich grounds RIM declinedthe request. We tried in searchof truth and he (Haqqani) hasno interest in finding thetruth,” Ijaz shouted, sayingthat after RIM’s refusal to re-lease the data, the entire truthwas in his Blackberry sets.

Ijaz told the commissionthat many messages were ex-changed between him andHaqqani which he could sendto the commission throughemail.

He explained that theterm “bad boys” in the mes-sages referred to the chiefs ofPakistan Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Hesaid that Haqqani had mes-saged that the US could get ac-cess to Osama bin Laden’swidows.

To Bukhari’s questionsraised a day earlier aboutIjaz’s faith, the Pakistani-American businessman cate-gorically stated: “I am aMuslim.” He also recited theinitial part of the first“Kalima” testifying Allah’soneness to make Haqqani’slawyer believe that he was aMuslim. However, Justice Isaasked him to keep his cool, asthe opponent might provokehim to break his chain ofthoughts. Upon an objectionraised by the attorney general,the commission observed thatthe Blackberry record wouldnot be exhibited at that partic-ular juncture. The AG was ofthe view that the electronic ev-idence was subject to securitycertification under Article 78-A of Qanoon-e-Shahadat. Thecommission directed the com-mission’s secretary to takeprints of the electronic com-munication directly fromIjaz’s laptop computer. Man-soor Ijaz has almost finishedhis testimony, and the com-mission would continue itsproceedings today.

tUnISAfP

WE S T E R Np o w e r svowed onThursdayto boost

pressure on the Syrian regimeand push it to allow in vital hu-manitarian aid at a global con-ference on Friday to tackle thecountry’s increasingly bloodycrisis.

As the flashpoint city ofHoms came under renewedshelling, officials said Friday’s“Friends of Syria” meeting ofover 60 nations in Tunisia willalso seek to support the Syrianopposition in its efforts tobuild a unified front. Francesaid the meeting will cementSyria’s “growing isolation,”while Britain said it will pushfor a tightening of the “stran-glehold” on the regime and aUS official said it will demand

that Damascus allow in hu-manitarian aid. But the ArabLeague-organised conferenceof senior Arab and Westerndiplomats, including US Sec-retary of State Hillary Clinton,will be marked by a Russianboycott and the absence ofChina.

Both countries have frus-trated Western and Arab ef-forts to rein in PresidentBashar al-Assad’s regime, in-cluding by vetoing UN Secu-rity Council resolutions on thecrisis. Russia said Thursdaythat Beijing and Moscow re-mained opposed to foreign in-tervention in Syria, whileChina’s influential People’sDaily warned this week thatWestern support for Syrianrebels could risk “large-scalecivil war”. Activists say morethan 7,600 people, mostlycivilians, have died sinceAssad’s hardline regimelaunched a crackdown to snuff

out a revolt that began withpeaceful protests in March2011. Syrian forces launchedanother massive bombard-ment of rebel districts in Homson Thursday, pounding thecity for the 20th straight day,activists said.

French Foreign MinisterAlain Juppe said Friday’s talkswill aim to “increase pressureon the regime” and send a clearsignal not just to Assad but alsoto the countries that havebacked him. The meeting “willbe a very strong symbol of thegrowing isolation of the regimeand the isolation of those coun-tries that continue to block allsolutions at the Security Coun-cil,” he told London-basedpan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat.A US official said Clinton dis-cussed a “unified humanitarianproposal” with counterparts onthe sidelines of an interna-tional conference on Somaliain London on Thursday.

West vows to up pressureon Assad at meeting

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

Nearly 28 principals of allmedical colleges affiliatedwith the UHS gathered in thevarsity after MBBS studentsfrom various colleges gath-ered outside the UHS toprotest against the results,Pakistan Today has learnt.Scores of students gatheredoutside the varsity on the sec-ond day on Thursday toprotest against the results an-nounced by the university.Earlier, they had issued a list

of reservations and demandsregarding the results and onthe day chanted slogansagainst the administration,blocked the traffic and hadnegotiations with police offi-cials as well. A large numberof female students alsoturned up.

However, taking accountof the situation, a pre-sched-uled meeting of principalsalso involved the topic onthe agenda because of theprotesting students. Thecommittee decided thatthose who call the results

foul should be checked bythese committees. The Uni-versity of Health Sciences(UHS) has announced to setup independent committeesof subject specialists to re-view the question papers ofsecond professional MBBSexamination held in Decem-ber last year.

The UHS spokesmanfurther said that on the rec-ommendation of the princi-pals, these committees havebeen set up and they willsubmit their reports withinfour to five days.

We demand a recheck!

The ‘boss’Continued from page 1

3 polio cases

detected despite

vaccination

LARkAnAONLiNE

Three cases of polio were de-tected on Thursday inNaushehro Feroze and Kash-more. More than three cases ofpolio were detected; with onein Naushehro Feroze districtand two in Kashmore. The di-agnosed included Sadaf, 3, andBilal, 4, both children of NadirAli Wasti. In Larkana division,a number of cases were identi-fied last year, including Aziza,3, Samia, 1, Yaseen, 2, andDeedar, 5. In Kamber-Shah-dadkot, Mohammad Ali S/oAbdul Waheed Chandio, 4,resident of GareebabadMuhalla Kamber city andKalsoom D/o Imam Bux, 5,resident of village Katohar,have been diagnosed withpolio virus, the Sindh Healthdepartment said.

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

Labour Party Pakistan (LPP)Lahore general secretaryand Beaconhouse NationalUniversity (BNU) teacherAmmar Ali Jaan was ar-rested by CIA personnelfrom Ghora Chowk aroundnoon and placed in the KotLakhpat police lockup forbeing an absconder in a roadblocking case from 2010.

According to sources,Ammar left home around12pm and stopped at theGhora Chowk petrol pumpwhere four-five police offi-cers asked him for ID, andbegan to check his vehicle.The police officers report-edly claimed that his chasisnumber was incorrect andhe would have to come tothe police station. Oncetaken to the CIA office Lib-erty Police Station, he was

told that he had been ar-rested for an outstandingFIR against him at the KotLakhpat police station. Hewas later taken to the KotLakhpat police stationwhere he was put in lockup.

Speaking to PakistanToday, Kot Lakhpat policeNaib Muharar Abid saidAmmar Ali was an abscon-der in FIR 555/10 regis-tered on August 10 2010under sections 147, 149,

353, 186, 290, 291 of thePakistan Penal Code, forblocking a road. He saidthat Ammar was arrestedby the investigations wing.However, asked to clarifywhy CIA police were in-volved, Abid said, “Anyonecan arrest an absconder.”Investigating Officer Zul-fiqar Ahmed could not bereached. LPP has called forprotest outside the policestation in the morning.

‘All options’ on

table on Iran:

Israel presidentJerUsAlem: IsraeliPresident Shimon Pereswarned on Thursday thatthe Jewish state is keeping“all options” on the tableon the issue of Iran’snuclear activities. “Thestate of Israel is a sovereignstate; it has the right andcapacity to defend (itself)against any threat,” theIsraeli leader said inremarks broadcast onmilitary radio. “When wesay that all options are onthe table, we really meanit,” he added. AfP

Lpp activist arrested forblocking road…one year ago

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05Friday, 24 February, 2012

News

SRiNAgAR: Kashmiri villagers lament over the destruction after their huts were buried under snow due to an avalanche at Ramwari, some 70kms from Srinagar on Thursday. Afp

LonDonmAJiD KHATTAK

THE UK and Pakistan havespecial bonds and the bilateralrelations are consistent andbased on mutual respect, For-eign Minister Hina Rabbani

Khar said on Thursday. “There are institutional linkages be-

tween the two countries which have greatlyfacilitated in understanding each others’point of view on various matters,” she said.

The foreign minister was talking toBaroness Syeda Warsi and selected mem-bers of the Conservative Party at the Parlia-ment House in London.

She specifically quoted the statementgiven by British Prime Minister DavidCameron during his visit to Pakistan whichshe said gave a great boost to the bilateralties. Prime Minister Cameroon had de-scribed the Pakistan-UK relations as an un-breakable friendship.

She described her visit to the UK and in-

teraction with the British officials as veryconstructive and fruitful. She said the talkson trade and investment prospects werequite encouraging.

Deliberating upon the regional securitysituation, Khar said Pakistan wanted peaceand stability in Afghanistan and was makingefforts to minimise the spillover of instabil-ity in that country.

In the context of conflict resolution, sheemphasised that the international principlesas prescribed in the UN Charter should berespected at all times while dealing with cri-sis. She also stressed upon positive messag-ing to create better understanding amongcoalition partners and stakeholders of anyproblem to ensure peace and stability.

The foreign minister also briefed thedelegation about the internal political andsocio-economic conditions in Pakistan. “Thepositive aspect of the developments in Pak-istan is that democracy has taken roots.”However, she said currently Pakistan wasconfronted with two main challenges, en-ergy crisis and the image abroad.

“These challenges are also impact-ing the Pakistani diaspora in variousparts of the world.”

Baroness Warsi and the delegation

thanked the minister for explaining the per-spective of Pakistan on various national, re-gional and international issues. Theyproposed that the positives about Pakistanshould be highlighted like the contributionof Pakistanis in various fields in differentparts of the world. They also asked for pro-motion of Pakistani culture and handicrafts.

Talking to the All Parties Parliamentar-ian Group (APPG) on Pakistan in theBritish Parliament, Khar described Pak-istan-UK relations as unique, distinct andstrong. “These relations are based on mu-tual respect and mutual interests. The UKhas always demonstrated a constructiveand realistic approach towards Pakistanand the challenges it has been facing fromtime to time.” Underlining the objectives ofher visit to the UK, she said it was preciselyto review the progress and see further pos-sibilities in various sectors of cooperationbetween the two countries under the en-hanced strategic dialogue forum estab-lished during the visit of the British primeminister to Pakistan last year.

UK, Pakistan share a special

bond, says Hina Kharg Foreign minister said Pakistan making efforts to minimise spillover of Afghan instabilityg Says country currently facing two main challenges: energy crisis and the image abroad

ISLAMABADmASOOD REHmAN

A three-member bench of the Supreme Courton Thursday directed Secretary Finance tosubmit a detailed report within a fortnight toa petition challenging the appointment ofMuhammad Ali Ghulam Muhammad as Se-curities and Exchange Commission of Pak-istan (SECP) chairman.

The bench comprising Justice MianShakirullah Jan, Justice Anwar Zaheer Ja-mali and Justice Tariq Parvez re-issued no-

tices to all respondents- the federal govern-ment through finance secretary, SECP chair-man, policy board secretary, finance division,commissioner (company law division) andSECP’s human resource department directorto file replies in the matter as petitioner’scounsel Afnan Karim Kundi had filed anamended petition with a plea to the court tostop the incumbent SECP chairman fromworking. The court, however, observed thatthe defence must be given a chance to presenthis point of view before the court. Appearingon notice, Finance Secretary Abdul Wajid

Rana requested the court to grant him sometime to file reply, as he assumed charge of hisoffice a week ago. He assured the court thatits orders will completely be complied withand implemented.

The petition challenging the appoint-ment of SECP chairman was moved by for-mer chief of the SECP’s legal departmentMuhammad Ashraf Tiwana, requesting thecourt to ask the government to immediatelyappoint a new chairman and commissionersto complete the constitution of the commis-sion with persons of integrity, competence

and professionalism who have no direct or re-mote conflict of interest and are not nomi-nees and cronies of lobbies and interestgroups in regulated sectors. According to pe-titioner, Muhammad Ali, who was appointedas SECP chairman on Dec 24, 2010 is thelargest shareholder and director of a privatebrokerage firm — Fortune Securities Limited.The petition highlighted some regulatory fail-ures of the SECP, including the stock marketcrashes of 2005 and 2008 and debacle of theNational Insurance Company Limited. “De-spite efforts by parliamentary committees,

culprits in the 2005 market crash have notyet been identified, lest being punished. Sim-ilarly, the causes of the 2008 market crisishave not been investigated,” the petitionersaid. The petitioner requested the court todeclare the appointment of individuals whoare either members of stock and commodityexchanges or brokers, directors or share-holders of brokerage companies as commis-sioners or chairman of the SECP as againstthe law, equity, justice, fairness, public pol-icy and ultra vires of the law, constitutionand principles of natural justice.

24 Indian troopsfeared dead in twoIHK avalanches

SRInAgARONLiNE

At least 24 Indian troops were feared deadin two avalanche tragedies in Bandiporeand Ganderbal districts of Indian-heldKashmir. Sources said the first of the twoavalanches hit the Brigade Headquarters ofthe Indian Army at Dawar in Gurez. Thetroops deployed there were unaware, givingthem no chance to escape. Eight bodies hadso far been recovered from Dawar, while 10soldiers were still trapped at Davar, Indianarmy officials told reporters. At least 14were being feared dead in Sonmarg inGanderbal in the second avalanche. Bodiesof three other troops, including one juniorcommissioned officer, had been recovered.The third avalanche destroyed over a dozenhutments in Ramwari area of Ganerbalduring the night, but no loss of lifeoccurred. The Indian Army has launchedrescue operations in both the hit places.Due to heavy snow in Dawar, no helicoptermovement was possible, the official said,adding that they expected a “large number”of fatalities.

UK not to play any

role on Balochistan,

says thomson

ISLAMBADiNP

British High Commissioner to PakistanAdam Thomson on Thursday ruled outthe UK’s role in the Balochistan issue.Talking to journalists, the highcommissioner said that it would not besuitable for the UK to play any role on theBalochistan issue. He said that Defence ofPakistan Council rallies was Pakistan’sinternal issue. Thomson said that PrimeMinister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani wouldvisit the UK in May while British ForeignSecretary William Hague would visitPakistan next month. He said thatTaliban chief Mullah Omar could get arole in Afghan politics if he respected theAfghan constitution, adding that hiswhereabouts were still unknown.Thomson said that Foreign Minister HinaRabbani Khar’s recent UK visit wassuccessful.

secP chAirmAn APPointment chAllenged

Give the defence a chance: SCg Finance secretary directed to submit detailed report within fortnight g Petitioner asks courts to declare stock market members ineligible

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06Friday, 24 February, 2012

News

MIRAnSHAHAfP

HU N D R E D S of armedtribesmen on Thursdayrallied against US droneattacks in Pakistan’stribal belt, demanding

compensation for damage and losses,witnesses said.

Markets remained closed duringthe rally in Miranshah, the main townof North Waziristan, the tribal districtmost frequently targeted by dronestrikes against Taliban and al Qaedamilitants. Up to 2,000 tribesmen gath-ered in Miranshah bazaar shouting“Death to America” and “Stop droneattacks in Pakistan” at the rally organ-ised by Pakistan’s largest Islamicparty, Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI),witnesses said.

“The United Nations should takenotice of American drone strikes,”

cleric Maulana Abul Rehman told thegathering. The crowd demanded animmediate end to drone attacks andcompensation for those who lost rela-tives or property, as well as condemn-ing this week’s burning of Korans at aUS-run base in neighbouringAfghanistan.

President Barack Obama lastmonth confirmed for the first timethat US drones target militants onPakistani soil, but American officialsdo not discuss details of the covertprogramme. The US strikes are deeplyunpopular among the Pakistani public,who see the attacks as a violation ofsovereignty and who blame the gov-ernment’s US alliance for much of theviolence plaguing the country.

According to an AFP tally, 45 USmissile strikes were reported in Pak-istan’s tribal belt in 2009, the yearObama took office, 101 in 2010 and 64in 2011. The programme has dramati-

cally increased as the Obama adminis-tration looks to withdraw all foreigncombat troops from Afghanistan bythe end of 2014.prOTesT helD AgAinsT hOlyQUrAn’s DesecrATiOn: TheJamiat-e-Talba Arbia (JTA) held aprotest outside the Peshawar PressClub on Thursday against desecrationof the Holy Quran by NATO troops inAfghanistan.

The protest was led by JTA Pe-shawar Secretary Hanifur Rehman andBaadshah Zada. The protesters wereholding banners and placards in-scribed with anti-US slogans andchanted slogans against NATO forcesand demanded the UN to take noticeof the issue. They said that it wastragic that NATO troops had dese-crated the Holy Quran and all 57 Is-lamic countries were silent in thisregard. The protesters urged the worldto boycott NATO.

Tribesmen protest

against US drone strikesSWAt

HAROON SiRAJ

With their houses destroyed during theSwat operation and the promised monitorycompensation denied, disappointed own-ers staged a protest with a sit-in outside theDCO office on Thursday. Residents of var-ious localities of Tehsil Kabal gathered atNishat Chowk and marched to the DCO of-fice in form of a procession observing a sit-in protest.

“It has been four years since ourhouses were destroyed during the militaryoperation in Swat. Despite the govern-ment’s promises, no compensation is yet tocome,” speakers said. “The PARSA andDistrict Administration are using delayingtactics to ward us off,” they complained.

They blamed elected members for em-bezzling millions out of compensatoryfunds that were allocated for the benefit ofSwat operation affectees. “Leaving us help-

less and in the vortex of maelstrom, electedmembers used the embezzled money tobuy themselves property in posh areas ofthe country,” speakers added. Protestorswarned that if their demands were no meton priority basis, they will be left with nooption but to resort to severer protest andwill block the Swat-Peshawar GT road.sKi gAlA: A 7-day ski gala is set to com-mence on March 3 in tourist resort MalamJabba. Malam Jabba is located about9,000 feet above sea level. Like previousyears, a large number of skiers from all overthe country are expected to participate inthe event. The gala will continue till March10. One day each has been allocated towomen and children. Special securityarrangements have also been made. SkiFederation Provincial President MatiullahKhan said that thousands of ski enthusiastsstreamed to Malam Jabba last year andhundreds of thousands are expected to par-ticipate this year too.

Four yeArs on

Swat operation affectees stillawaiting promised compensationg Allege govt officials misappropriated compensationfunds to buy themselves posh properties

fAiSALAbAD: Activists of NADRA Employees Union protest during a demonstration for

regularisation of their services on Thursday. INp

PESHAWARSTAff REPORT

Peshawar Corps Commander LieutenantGeneral Khalid Rabbani on Thursday ap-preciated the tribal people for assisting thearmed forces against terrorists.

He was addressing participants of theDe-radicalisation Emancipation Pro-gramme (DREP) at Tank. Anti-state ele-ments carried out terrorist activities andkilled many innocent people, particularlytribal people, for money, he said. Rabbanisaid that the armed forces were performingtheir duties with commitment and honestyand under the programme the armed

forces had initiated a number of develop-ment projects, including communicationnetworks, setting up of health and educa-tional institutions and social welfareschemes in the Tribal Areas.

Rabbani hoped that successful partic-ipants of the programme will promote tol-erance and brotherhood in theirrespective areas and would be an examplefor others. On directives of Chief of ArmyStaff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, theDREP was initiated as part of a welfaremovement in Tank in October 2011. ThePeshawar corps commander also distrib-uted certificates among successful partic-ipants of the programme.

peshawar corps commander

appreciates tribal people’s role

PESHAWARSTAff REPORT

Over 76 percent parents in KhyberPakhtunkhwa believe that moderatepunishment is important to disciplinechildren while child rights activists urgeelimination of corporal punishment atschools.

This was revealed in a survey con-ducted by the Society for the Protectionof the Rights of the Child (SPARC),which revealed that 76 percent parentsfrom Peshawar, Swabi, Charsadda, Mar-

dan and Nowshera were in favour ofmoderate punishment to discipline theirchildren. In a statement, SPARC Pro-gram Manager Imran Takkar said thatany state’s legislation could shape theattitude and practices of that society andan explicit ban on corporal punishmentat schools was of great importance. Hesaid that the process must be supportedby raising awareness on the harms ofcorporal punishment. “If corporal pun-ishment is eliminated from educationalinstitutions, it will support its elimina-tion from all settings,” he said.

‘punishment is important

to discipline children’

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Friday, 24 February, 2012

Tales and riddles of the fort

PAGe 07

LAHoREimRAN ADNAN

The aircraft that had crashed inside a house in Model Town onThursday was out of fuel, an aviation industry expert asking notbe named told Pakistan Today.

The expert said the aircraft had taken a nosedive because itsfuel tank was empty due to unknown reasons. He further stated,“It is very strange that the aircraft did not even catch fire.”

Residents of 143-H, Model Town, Mubasher Hussain andUmar Hussain, also confirmed that the aircraft had not caughtfire and no fuel had leaked.

Another witness, Raza, also expressed similar observations.He also mentioned that aircraft engines were off and it was mov-ing like a spiral when it hit the ground.

However, speaking to Pakistan Today, Hybrid Aviation Man-aging Director Mohsin Syed claimed that the aircraft was 100 per-cent fit for flying, but the unfortunate incident was the result ofthe mistake of the trainee pilot. He said the aircraft strolled andwent into a nosedive, which clearly indicated that something se-riously went wrong with the plane. “The aircraft was capable toglide and land safely in any emergency situation,” he maintained.

“Though it is really unfortunate that two precious lives werelost, but it is part of flying training. Similar incidents have hap-pened many times before, even various aircraft of Pakistan AirForce have crashed during training,” he underscored. Respond-ing to a question, Syed said it was Cessna 150 aircraft (registra-tion AP-BCS) that was manufactured in 1969 or 1971. It wasupgraded and well maintained in all respects, he added.

Meanwhile, a six-member Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) teamheaded by Security and Safety Department Head Abdul Majidreached the scene and inspected the debris. The members left thescene immediately and did not talk to the reporters. They said theplane’s debris would be removed today (Friday). A CAA officialsaid it would be premature to give a reason without proper inves-tigation and the report would be made public.Answering a ques-tion, he said all aviation companies and flying clubs in the countrywere strictly regulated. CAA officials conducted through inspecionof all aircraft operating in the country and issued fitness certifi-cates in routine, he underscored.

On the other hand, Special Branch of the Lahore Policesealed the office of the private flying company, Hybrid Aviation.Police sources said even though it was the job of the CAA, but forthe protection of records, the police had taken this action.

They said police had sealed all office records and had parked

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

Atrainer, two-seat aircraft of a pri-vate flying club crashed into theporch of a house located in HBlock, Model Town, killing boththe trainee and the trainer on

Thursday. The aircraft, a Cessna 150, belonged to Hy-

brid Flying Club located near PAF Colony, CentrePoint. According to aviation officials, the planehad taken off from the club at 2pm and hadcrashed in a house numbered 143-H in ModelTown. The aircraft was a training aircraft whichwas being flown by two people, Anita and Waqar.Anita Quraishi, 28, was training Waqar, 23. For-tunately the plane did not crash into the houseand came down nose first into the porch.

Witnesses said the same plane flew over thearea every day. Abdul Karim, who lives rightacross the house, saw the entire episode unfold.

“It was 2:15pm and this plane was flying by asusual,” he said, adding “the engine of the planesuddenly went quiet and it started spinning andcame down, nose first, in the house’s garage.”“The crash was not that loud,” he said, adding “thepetrol started leaking and it flowed out onto thestreet.” “There was no fire. Rescue 1122 was calledimmediately,” said Aslam, a gardener of the samelane said. “Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and theModel Town security chief reached the scene im-mediately,” the gardener said. According to ex-perts, the Cessnas have a training route and aspecific point from where the pilots report to theflying club. “The pilot, Anita, had reported theirlocation when they were crossing over the ModelTown Park, after that no message was receivedfrom them,” an official of the club asking not benamed said. While answering a question, the offi-cial said the conversations between the pilot andthe control tower were not recorded. According toRescue 1122 officials, the pilots were killed at themoment of impact. “Their bodies were sawed outof the debris. Both of the passengers belonged toKarachi and were the member of Hybird FlyingClub,” he said. The police said the crime scene hadbeen sealed and all evidences had been collected.“We are waiting for the aviation expert team to ar-rive from Karachi and investigate the crash, any-thing said before the investigation would beimmature”, said Model SP Maroof Wala.

LAHoREADNAN LODHi

Three large and reputed universities of Lahore, GovernmentCollege University (GCU), University of Engineering andTechnology (UET) and Lahore College for Women Univer-sity (LCWU), which receive the most amount of funds by theHigher Education Commission (HEC), have failed to get aplace among the top overall university of the country in thenew HEC ranking, Pakistan Today learnt on Monday.

HEC officials also warned the Punjab government totake interest in these universities which were becoming thehub of teachers’ and students’ politics.

“These rankings were released after six years and it isa shame that these universities could not make their mark,”HEC officials said. On the other hand Punjab University,

Lahore University of Manage-

ment Sciences and University of Health Sciences are theonly three universities of the city that were able to grabplaces in the top ten positions.

Ranking criteria for the universities include student in-take as well as the number of graduates produced at BS,MS and PhD levels, number of qualified faculty members,student-teacher ratio, quality of research produced andpublished in journals of international repute, physical andtechnological infrastructure, international collaborations,resource generation and sports facilities.

“These universities are in the grip of teachers’ politics andeven though they are getting the maximum amount of funds,they are underperforming,” a professor asking not to benamed told Pakistan Today. “UET is being run by a retiredsoldier, what would he know about research?” a UET profes-sor said. Other professors said the LCWU was one of the mainuniversities of the women and due to politics that also involvethe VC, the university has under-performed, adding that thesame was the case for GCU.“After the 18 Amendment,the CM should realise hisrole and should ap-point good adminis-trators,”an HECofficial

said.

Plane takes a nosedive to destructiong trainer, trainee both killed Let’s all blame

the dead

flying company

says crashes are

normal, points

finger at dead

pilots

Experts say it

was strange that

the aircraf ran

out of fuel

mid-flight, did

not catch fire

g

g

all aircraft that belonged to the flying company in hangers in their presence. However,Hybrid Aviation MD Mohsin Syed claimed that his office had not been sealed.

According to the Hybrid Aviation website, “Hybrid’s Cessna 150 (AP-BCS) has beenrecently refurbished by Hybrid Aviation engineers and added into the fleet. The Cessna150 isn’t very fast or big, but it’s not expensive to fly and it’s fun. Much of flying is aboutfun and the C150 gives the most value for money for any student pilot. It is a wonderfultraining aircraft and many students learn a lot from its flying.

That is the reason why Hybrid uses it solely for training purposes at Hybrid FlyingSchool.” The website indicates that the two-seater aircraft had single engine and wasequipped with a VOR and ILS systems.

Fed the most, did the least g Uet, GcU and lcwU fail to make a mark, despite getting most funds

uet gculcWu

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:30 AM Page 7

low

High

0890cSAtURDAY SUnDAY MOnDAY22°c I 087°c 25°c I 10°c 25°c I 09°c

PRAYeR tIMInGSFajr Sunrise Zuhr Asr Maghrib Isha

05:16 06:37 12:17 15:30 17:56 19:17

cItY DIRectORY

ReScUe 1122

eDHI cOntROl 115

MOtORwAY POlIce 130

POlIce 15

GOVeRnOR’S HOUSe 99200081-7

cHIeF MInISteR’S HOUSe 99203226

FIRe BRIGADe 16

BOMB DISPOSAl 99212111

Mcl cOMPlAIntS 99211022-29

lAHORe wASte DISPOSAl 1139

eMeRGencY HelP

HOSPItAlS

BlOOD BAnK

FAtMID 35210834-8

ISlAMIc AllIAnce 37588649/37535435

cOMPlAInt

wAPDA 111-000-118

SUI GAS 1199

RAIlwAYS

cItY StAtIOn (enqUIRY) 117

ReSeRVAtIOn 99201772

RAIlwAY POlIce 1333

AIRPORt

FlIGHt enqUIRY 114

PIA ReSeRVAtIOn 111-786-786

cOlleGeS / UnIVeRSItIeS

PUnJAB UnIVeRSItY 99231257KInnAIRD cOlleGe 99203781-4qUeen MARY cOlleGe 36362942GOVt. cOlleGe UnIVeRSItY 111-000-010UMt 35212801-10lUMS 35608000Uet 36288666lcwU 99203072SUPeRIOR cOlleGe 111-000-078

MID cItY 37573382-3

SeRVIceS 99203402-11

MAYO 99211100-9

GeneRAl 35810892-8

SHeIKH ZAID 35865731

SIR GAnGA RAM 99200572

UcH 35763573-5

ItteFAq 35881981-85

cMH 366996168-72

SHOUKAt KHAnUM 35945100

JInnAH 111-809-809

ADIl (DeFence) 36667275

cHIlDRen’S 99230901-3

DeFence nAtIOnAl HOSPItAl 111-17-18-19

letter to tAseer ii

DAte: JAn 23 – FeB 23, 2012 VenUe: tHe DRAwInG ROOM ARt GAlleRY

Rashid Rana, naazish Ataullah, Ayesha Jatoi,Mudassar Manzoor, RM naeem, Sadaf naeem, IrfanHasan, Adeel Us Zafar and others display their art inan effort to capture past.

red Bull PAPer Wings 2012 P ...

DAte: FeBRUARY 10 — MARcH 10, 2012VenUe: UnSPecIFIeD, lAHORe

SUnnY

weAtHeR UPDAteS

23°c

08Friday, 24 February, 2012

Lahore

ArABic cAlligrAPhy

cAllIGRAPHY clASSeS are on-going, interestedstudents can enroll throughout the year. theduration of one module is three months. there arefour modules of learning calligraphyt: primary,secondary, advanced and higher. the course includestraditional pen and traditional paper making.

DAte AnD tIMe: JUne 1, 2012, 4PM tO 6PMVenUe: HASt-O-neeSt centeR

Feeling the need for wInGS?After an overwhelming response to Red Bull Paperwings held in Pakistan in 2009, the best and mostcreative Pakistani folders & throwers will have thechance to represent their country at the worldFinals at Hangar-7, Salzburg, Austria this year also!

MonItoRIng DESk

sTORIES are told and retold. They canenmesh a place in a net so fine that itbecomes difficult to distinguish be-tween what had transpired and what

was conjured.One such fabled place is Lahore Fort in

Pakistan. The pavilions and chambers of thisMughal edifice have been the sites of so manyencounters that every column seems to hold upa pediment of memories. Every tile is set in apavement of recollections. There is even a fa-mous Wall of Pictures with scenes of angels inflight and men clashing with swords, an unend-ing mural of narratives.

One person who knows the stories well ismy friend Rustam Khan. He had worked withthe Fort’s administration for years. So, when heoffered to tour me around the vast complex, Ihappily agreed. During our wanderings, I bit mytongue when I felt the impulse to tell my sagelyguide that, back home, his name was widely as-sociated with a more flamboyant character!

Rustam began by explaining to me that La-hore Fort wasn’t a fortress in the regular senseof the word. It was a sumptuous residence that,just like Windsor castle, was surrounded byhuge walls which encapsulated kings andcourtiers. It had been expanded through thecenturies, resulting in an amalgam of differenthistorical styles. Ino Manalo of the PhilippineDaily Inquirer takes the readers through a jour-ney of exploring the Fort like it has.

VAriOUs sAgAs

My first lesson was an introduction to the intri-cacies of brick. We were beginning with the el-ements that formed the basis for the structuresof the Fort’s various sagas. Rustam pointed outthe oldest bricks from the time of the EmperorAkbhar. These were robust, somewhat rotund,but full of the strength of earth.

Then there were the bricks from the time ofShahjahan. These were finer and more slender,reflective of a ruler whose preferences were formarble embellished with the floral motifs ofPersia. Finally, there were those from the kilnput up by the British. These were flat and effi-cient, no-nonsense tools of Empire.

Every curve and crack had something tocontribute. Rustam directed me to shapes inthe midst of the shimmering mosaics of the cel-ebrated Sheesh Mahal or Hall of Mirrors whichmy dazzled eyes would not have discerned. Heeven shared with me his pet theory that the realSheesh Mahal was actually located in anotherpart of the palace.

My guide noted how the suns which formedthe medallions of the ceiling panels of a partic-ular pavilion were all different, indicating thesymbolism of a variety of faiths. This conveyeda conscious effort to project pluralism and tol-erance, hallmarks of cosmopolitan rulers.

I was shown stone loops set into the wallsfor torches to light the palace at night. I alsonoticed smaller hooks on the perimeters of win-dows or doorways. These, it was explained,were for curtains. I recalled

what another

scholar had told me: Indian buildings like theFort had two layers. The first was made up ofstone and mortar. These formed the permanentstructures which were immediately observable.But there was also another layer of colorfuldraperies and canopies, gossamer, ephemeral,subject to the whims of satraps and seasons.

hUge cAmpsiTe

Fragments coalesced into buildings, allowingthe epic to proceed. We walked through a largeenclosure of lawns and orderly pathways. Rus-tam clarified that this was originally a hugecampsite, a waiting area for the retinues ofemissaries.

The pavilion where the king would have satoccupied one side of the enclosure. He wouldhave revealed himself to his subjects from abalcony. One of the pleasures of being with myspecial guide was that we were allowed to enterareas which were usually off-limits, such as thehall behind the throne. This overlooked still an-other large space—the great quadrangle of theEmperor Jahangir.

I stood there mesmerized by my imagin-ings. For a moment I could hear the faintstrains of music, but of course it must havecome from the amusement park outside.

As we descended into the quadrangle, Rus-tam kept on harrying me with questions aboutdetails, about the bricks. From what epoch wasthis wall? He seemed pleased that I was quitegame about answering.

We soon found ourselves in another court-yard. Rustam asked me what this space re-minded me of and then shrugged his shoulders.I suppose this was because the answer was bothobvious and somewhat cliché. For the eleganceand purity of this marbled expanse pointed toonly one thing: The Taj Mahal, built by thegrieving Shahjahan as the tomb of his wife,Mumtaz. I must admit though, that the monu-mentality of such devotion still made me pause.

mnemOnic DeVice

Even while we progressed from section to sec-tion, I was beginning to feel a little anxious.Would I ever get the sequence of this proces-sion of Mughal monarchs straight in my mind?

Fortunately, a little mnemonic device thatmy Asian Civilizations teacher had taught us,came to my rescue: BHAJSA. This meant,“Bread, honey, and jam suit all.” Magically, thedynastic past fell neatly into place. For “B” orBread stood for Babur, revered founder of theline. His progeny then filed by effortlessly—and

in correct order: Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir,Shahjahan, and Aurangzeb.

Much later, Rustam brought me to examinewhat seemed nothing more than a hole in theground, albeit one that was lined with an ele-gant paving. Again, he became inscrutable ashe quizzed me about the significance of thisarea at the boundary between the king’s court-yard and the harem’s quarters. Still unyielding,he nodded in the direction of an imprint on thewall which betrayed the presence of pipes longlost to corrosion. Finally he relented: We werein the former baths and the hole was actually atub, a favorite royal locus for amorous pursuits.

Suddenly, the great Mughals were not justfierce warriors anymore. It was heartening toknow that after a grim battle of conquest, theytoo needed a wash and a softer touch.

It was, admittedly, a lot to ponder in one af-ternoon. But I was unperturbed. It was a greathonor to have been guided by someone whosefocus on detail arose from what was clearly adeep well of insight and devotion. As we walkedback to our vehicle, I saw large crowds enter-ing, cheerfully invading what had once beenforbidden ground.

Rustam again volunteered that it was a hol-iday and people came to sit on the grass andplay. I wondered: What stories did these peopletell each other about this place?

ABsTrAcT shApes

That night, shortly before I retired, somethingmore about my tour made me smile. I recalledhow, before we began our walk, Rustam hadstood beneath a ceiling bracket carved in theform of an animal. He then demanded to knowwhy similar brackets over the most importantsection of the courtyard had abstract shapescorresponding to no known beast or plant.

After a long time, I gingerly ventured aguess. I suggested that this abstraction mayhave to do with the point that the Fort was theproduct of a civilization which produced im-mense temples with ornate gates, but with in-nermost chambers void of decoration. My guidesmiled and then allowed me to move on.

I never got around to checking with Rustamwhat he thought about my response. But I washappy that he bothered to continuously test meas we went about our explorations. After all,guides must always askquestions. How elsewould their followersfigure out the way?

Tales and riddles of the Fort

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:31 AM Page 8

09Friday, 24 February, 2012

LahoreVoodoo strikes

16 years after

magician’s murderLAHoRE

iNP

The police arrested an allegedmurderer of a black magic experthere late Wednesday night. Accordingto details, the accused, MuhammadAli Tarkhan, had killed Baba FazalKarim, a magician with expertise inblack magic, in Iqbal Town area ofLahore in 1996. The accused wentunderground in the aftermath of themurder but was captured by policeduring a raid late Wednesday night.In the preliminary interrogation thearrested culprit confessed the killingof Baba Fazal Karim. The detaineeclaimed that Baba Fazal Karim wasmaking him paralysed with his blackmagic power to get possession of hisshop. After finding no other way tosave my health and shop, he opted forthe extreme step of killing him to getrid of his black magic, MuhammadAli Tarkhan claimed.

Passport office accused of bribery

LAHoREAPP

Obtaining a passport has become adaunting task for citizens, largelybecause of the strong presence of anunchecked agents’ network that mintsmoney from false promises ofeffective facilitation. A number ofdistressed people protesting outsidethe passport office on Abbott Roadsaid agents would take Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 from simple people to providehelp in getting the fees deposited inbanks or even getting any ‘objections’cleared. They alleged that some of theofficials working in the passport officeassociated with the large network ofagents who extracted hundreds ofrupees in bribes to expedite theprocess of obtaining a passport. Theyappealed to the authorities concernedto monitor the activities of theseelements who exploited visitors. Theyalso demanded basic amenities forvisitors outside the office such aswater and seating.

‘False alarm, there’sno dengue!’

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

Special Assistant to chief minister forhealth Khawaja Salman Rafiq has saidthe seven-year-old girl Maryamadmitted in a private hospital theprevious day was not a dengue patient.He said he reached the hospitalimmediately on the CM’s instructionand after consultations with the doctorhe found out that the patient was not adengue victim. He said the patient wasshifted to Jinnah Hospital after thetests. He asked the private hospitalsto immediately inform the DengueCell or the Dengue Experts AdvisoryGroup of the Health Department if adengue patient comes to them.

Promoting PePcOLAHoRE

STAff REPORT

A meeting of senior selection board forpromotion of Pakistan Electric PowerCompany (PEPCO) was held in WAPDAHouse, on 22 and 23 Feb 2012. Theselection board promoted 41 ChiefEngineers of GENCOs, DISCOs andNTDCL as General Managers. Theselection board comprises of Ministry ofWater and Power Additional SecretaryMr Hamid Ali Khan, PEPCO/NTDCLManaging Director Rasul KhanMahsud, Senior General ManagerArshad Raza, Human Resource GeneralManager Shiekh Nazir and ChiefFinancial Officer Majid Alvi.

Another day on the road: NADRA officials continued protesting on the third day as the authorities continue to remain oblivious to their demands. NADEEM IJAZ

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

Adivision bench of theSupreme Court headed byPakistan Iftikhar Chief Jus-tice Muhammad ChaudhryThursday directed Punjab

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to takestrict action against lazy police officers, toput the legal system back track. CJ be-lieved that Punjab police’s performance isnext to nothing as things stood.

The CJP also sought a report withinnext seven days from the Punjab ChiefMinister about the plans, if any, that thegovernment was working on for the pur-pose of enhancing jail capacity or con-struction of new jails as prisoners wereover crammed in the prisons and treatedlike sardines in a dirty truck, he believed.He also ordered them to conduct medicalexamination of all prisoners.

Reproaching the Punjab Home Sec-retary Shahid Khan and Punjab IG PoliceHaji Habibur Rahman on delay in sub-

mitting case challan of accused holed injails without trial or bail relief, CJPIftikhar Chaudhry remarked “You, homesecretary Punjab and the Punjab IG Po-lice, just roam about wearing necktiesand suits heroically and have no ideawhat damaging the police is causing tothe legal and judicial system in thebiggest province of Paksitan!”lhc cJ cOnDOles JOUrnAl-isT’s DeATh: Chief justice LahoreHigh Court Sh Azmat Saeed on Thursdayexpressed heart felt grief and condolence

on death of senior journalist MuhammadAraf, father of daily Dawn’s court re-porter Wajih Ahmed Sheikh. The de-ceased, Muhammad Araf, who had diedlate on Wednesday was laid to rest at alocal graveyard on Thursday. He was 75. In his journalistic career the deceasedserved at various newspapers includingdaily Masawat, daily Hurriat, and the Eng-lish daily Dawn. A large number of seniorjournalists, reporters, friends and rela-tives participated in his funeral prayers of-fered at Janaz Gaah, Lyyton road Lahore.

Speed up public-welfare

projects, cM tells officialsLAHoRE

STAff REPORT

Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif held a meeting toreview the pace of implementation of the Annual Development Programmeon Thursday. He directed officials to complete public-welfare projectsefficiently so people could benefit from them as early as possible andimprove their living standards. The Planning and Development chairmangave a detailed briefing regarding development projects of variousdepartments and utilisation of funds. The CM said solid steps should betaken in future for making cities environment-friendly. He further directedthe officials concerned to develop greenbelts along roads and asked forspecial attention to be paid to waste management. He said that projects ofhealth and education, road construction and social welfare should be

prioritised as they directly concerned themasses. He stated that honest and

hardworking officers were preciousassets of the government and theyshould be fully encouraged for thebenefit of the citizens. The chiefminister also announced the formation

of a special committee for the supervisionand timely completion of development

schemes, and said that thecommittee would review the

pace of work on developmentprojects on a weekly basis.

CTO takes part in a walk to raise awareness on traffic laws. pR

Get off your lazy backsides!

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:31 AM Page 9

10Friday, 24 February, 2012

cIneMA FIlM tIMecIne StAR BeAUtY AnD tHe BeAtS 12:30 PMPH: 35157462 BeAUtY AnD tHe BeAtS 02:00 PM

tHe wOMAn In BlAcK 03:30 PMUnDeRwORlD AwAKenInG 05:15 PMtHIS MeAnS wAR 07:00 AMtHe wOMAn In BlAcK 08:30 PMeKK DeewAnA tHA 10:15 PM

cIne GOlD eK MAIn AUR eKe tU 12:00 PMPH: 35340000 eK MAIn AUR eKe tU 3:00 PM

eK MAIn AUR eKe tU 6:00 PMeK MAIn AUR eKe tU 9:00 AMeK MAIn AUR eKe tU 12:00 AM

SOZO wORlD eK DeewAnA tHA 12:00 PMPH: 36674271 eK DeewAnA tHA 2:30 PM

eK MAIn AUR eKe tU 5:00 PMeK DeewAnA tHA 8:00 PMUnDeRwORlD 10:30 PM

SOZO GOlD GAlI GAlI cHOR HeI 12:30 PMPH: 36674271 eK MAIn AUR eKe tU 03:00 PM

AGneePAtH 05: 30 PMAGneePAtH 08: 30 PMGAlI GAlI cHOR HeI 11: 30 PM

Punjab IG’s no

nonsense approach LAHoRE

STAff REPORT

No delaying tactics, negligence and all kind ofhindrances would be acceptable in providing justice tothe innocent people of the province. This was stated byPunjab Police Inspector General Mohammad Habib-ur-Rahman while presiding over a high level meeting heldat Police Headquarters to review the pending challanslying in various police stations of the province. Whileexpressing his dissatisfaction the provincial police chiefdirected the concerned police officers to take all possiblesteps to ensure the timely completion and submission ofthese challans. Habib-ur-Rahman issued explanationletters to 32 police officers on account of non-submission of challans across the province.

Beaconhouse 78 A/1awards high achievers

LAHoREPRESS RELEASE

A graduation ceremony was held at Beaconhouse 78 A/1Girls campus Lahore. The chief guest was ProfessorZubaira Hassan , the Head of Department of Economicsat Kinnaird College for women. The ceremony startedwith a splendid procession of the graduating classes,accompanied by the Principal Firdous Al Makky, chiefguest the school coordinator Noshin Shahid. Highachievers of the school were presented by NoshinShahid. Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded tothe outstanding students.

Support from Down UnderLAHoRE

STAff REPORT

Australian Federal Police, Counsellor Marzio Da Recalled on Punjab Addl IG Ch Tanvir Ahmed, TrainingAddl IG Sarmed Saeed, Special Branch Addl IG NasirKhan Durani, DIG CTD, Javed Islam andInvestigation DIG Mirza Shakeel at PoliceHeadquarters, Punjab on Thursday. Iftikhar Ahmad,former, IGP, was also present on this occasion.During the meeting matters of mutual interests werediscussed in detail. Marzio Da Re also told the SeniorPolice Officers that Australian police departmentwould extend its full cooperation to the Punjab Policein capacity building assistance and trainingprogrammes. He also told that Australian PoliceDepartment would assist Punjab Police and lawenforcement agencies in countering terrorism byusing the latest technology and forensic capabilities ofPolice Agencies. The Punjab Police officers thankedthe visiting guests and appreciated their cooperation.

Lahore

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

THE Lahore High Court on Thursdayrestrained the payment of Rs 0.5 mil-lion in annual fees required to be paidby a medial student to the ShaikhZayed Medical College (SZMC).

The court also sought a reply from the federalsecretary cabinet division, director general ofhealth, and the chairman of Shaikh Zayed Hos-pital (SZH). Justice Muhammad KhalidMehmood Khan passed the order on a petitionfiled by Pakistan Medical Association Joint Sec-retary Dr Salman Kazmi against the unjustifiedfee structure of the college.

The court also restrained the SZMC chairmanfrom harassing the student.

Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel Noshab Khansubmitted before the court that the SZMC wasunder the administrative control of the federalgovernment, but was charging Rs 480,000 fromstudents as tuition fees for each academic year,whereas other public sector medical and dentalinstitutions in Punjab were only charging Rs12000-14000. The counsel termed the fee struc-ture of the SZMC unfair as it was receiving grantsfrom the public exchequer. The counsel pleadedthe court to declare the SZMC fee structure as il-

legal and for the respondents to bring their insti-tutions’ fee structure at par with other medicaland dental institutions in Punjab. The court ad-journed the matter till February 27.lhc cOmmissiOn QUesTiOns picphArmAcisT: The Lahore High Court judicialcommission, which was set up to probe into thedeaths of more than120 patients in the Punjab In-stitute of Cardiology (PIC) case, on Thursdaycross-questioned Muhammad Yousaf, a PIC phar-macist as a witness to the fiasco resulting from thesupply of defective drugs to the hospital.

He recorded his statement on oath and pro-duced certain documents in support of his state-ments. The tribunal questioned him about variousaspects of the matter. Zulfiqar Ali, the store keeperof PIC, also appeared before the tribunal and wasdirected to bring the record on Friday. Noticeshave already been issued to Muhammad TariqRehman, the proprietor, and Musharraf, the part-ner of Omar Trading Company. Omar TradingCompany, the distributor of Efroze Chemicals, al-legedly supplied Isotab Tablets to the PIC, whichwere subsequently found to contain large quanti-ties of antimalarial pyremethamine.

The commission comprising LHC judge Jus-tice Ijaz ul Ahsan is probing the matter to ascer-tain the causes of the deaths, to determine if thecauses are related to the use of the drugs, the

source of the drugs and to make recommenda-tions for the prevention of such incidents in thefuture. Since the matter is of great public impor-tance, the tribunal is conducting the proceedingson a day to day basis.lhc seeKs reply FrOm gOVernmenTOn ccpO’s AppOinTmenT: The LahoreHigh Court on Thursday issued a notice andsought a reply from the federal and provincialgovernments within two weeks on a petition thatchallenged the appointment of Haji HabiburRehman as the Inspector General of Police (IGP)in Punjab. Justice Najam ul Hasan passed the or-ders on a petition filed by the petitioner’s counselMuhammad Fakhir.

Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel submittedbefore the court that Haji Habibur Rehman wasthe Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) of Lahorewhen the attack on the Sri Lankan team tookplace. He submitted that not only the LHC judi-cial enquiry commission had declared Rehmanguilty to some extent, but the departmental en-quiry had also termed him an irresponsible andnegligent police officer after the incident.

He alleged that his appointment had beenpolitically motivated and directions should be is-sued to remove him from the post. The courtsought a reply from the federal and provincialgovernments within two weeks.

Govt oblivious to its

promises at thokarLAHoRE

STAff REPORT

The government has failed to pay thedue amount for the properties and hasn’tbuilt the promised forensic laboratory atThokar Niaz Baig as well. Malik NazirHussain, Faqir Hussain and SajaadHaider said this during a pressconference. They said that they wereowners of 17 canals of property atThokar Niaz Baig. They added that thegovernment was paying them Rs 0.1million per marla for their land, eventhough the real value of land was 0.9million per marla. And they claimed thatall this was due to their refusal to bribethe collector. Even the property papershave incorrect owner names, despite thefact that they had owned the property forthe previous five years, they claimed.

Kashmir issue onthe table

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

Indian Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumarcalled on PML-N senior leaderMuhammad Mehdi on Thursday duringher tour in Pakistan. IndianParliamentarians were present on theoccasion. Both dignitaries discussedKashmir dispute, chances of economiccooperation and water issue. They alsoreflected on mutual issues and stressedupon peace in the region.

Directing denguedemolition

LAHoRE:STAff REPORT

Advisor to the Chief Minister Mansha-Ullah Butt has said that the EnvironmentProtection Department (EPD) will leaveno stone unturned to dispel dengue virusin the province, however the realmeasure to prevent dengue proliferationis through the people and their domesticpractices. Addressing a press conferenceat the Directorate of Public RelationsPunjab (DGPR), he said that the EPDplayed its role as regulatory, enforcementand awareness body during the dengueupsurge. He mentioned that despitelimited resources and manpower, thedepartment identified and eliminated2066 larvae hatching spots in theprovincial metropolis.

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

A security guard Akhtar Khan, 35, resident ofMansehra, was shot dead by his rivals over an oldenmity in the Defence A Police Area on Thursday.The police said that he had been in the city since 16years working at the house of mills owner Muham-mad Asghar in Punjab Housing Society. The policesaid that Akhtar had an old enmity with TasleemKhan whose family had shot dead Akhtar’s fatherin law and uncle over a minor dispute some 16years ago. The police said that Akhtar was pursuingthe murder cases owing to which Tasleem and hisfamily nursed a grudge against Akhtar Khan.

On the day of incident Akhtar was standingoutside the house of Asghar where Tasleem and hisaccomplices reached and opened fire on Akhtar.Resultantly Akhtar sustained serious bullet woundsand died instantly. The police after being informedreached the scene and removed thebody to the morgue for autopsyand started investigations.DeATh By sTrAngUlA-TiOn: A 16-year old unidenti-fied boy was found murderedfrom Mozang Police Area onThursday. The police said thatsome locals found the body ofaforesaid boy lying in an emptyplot and informed the localpolice, whose officials after

reaching the scene removed the body to the morguefor autopsy and started investigations. Investiga-tors said that the victim was strangulated to death.They suspected the boy could also have had beenthe victim of sexual assault. Further investigationsare underway.nO neeD FOr speeD: An over-speeding carran over Muhammad Raffique, resident of WandalaRoad Area, 42-year old man in the Shahdara PoliceArea on Thursday. The police said that the victimwas trying to cross Wandala Road when the carknocked him down. He was taken to a nearby hos-pital where he died and police handed over hisbody to his heirs after completing legal formalities.Three BODies FOUnD: Three persons in-cluding a woman were found dead from three dif-ferent areas of the city on Thursday. Azmat,Jaranwala resident, was found unconscious nearSagiyan Bridge in Shahdara Police area. She wastaken to a nearby hospital where doctors con-

firmed her death. Her heirs reached La-hore and shifted her body to theirnative place.

Meanwhile, a 60-years-oldunidentified man was found dead in-

side a warehouse located in MisriShah Police Area while a body of a35-year old unidentified addict wasfound from Harbanspura area. Po-lice after being informed reached

the scene and removed the bodiesto the morgue for autopsies.

LHC restrains SZMC fromtaking fee from student

perilous pursuit ofmurder cases

bATHiNg iN THE bALOCH LimELigHT: insaf Students’ federation members hold a protest in the favour of

the balochs. NADEMM IJAZ

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:31 AM Page 10

The Memogate seems not to be dying out anytime soon nowthat Mansoor Ijaz has started his testimony in the UK. Whenthe country is facing problems in almost every sector, suchproblems will only cause trouble and destabilise the democraticgovernment. This is one thing that no stakeholder should for-get. On one hand, we are facing problems of secession in

Balochistan, while on the other, we are constantly under pres-sure from the US on Nato supply routes. It would be in the ben-efit of all if we choose not to fall victim of such plots andstrengthen the civilian government.

ADEEL LIAQATLahore

Editor’s mail 11Friday, 24 February, 2012

Mobile towersThe apartment building where I re-

side with my family is surrounded byhigh-rise mobile towers from all the foursides, three of them at the distance of notmore than 100 metres.

The other day a family friend whocame from London pointed out that onhis visit to Karachi after three years, hehad seen many more and much highermobile phone towers and that these wereprohibited under rules in London, of anyheight, as they use advance technology tocompensate the coverage.

I request the concerned ministry tobring the advance technology in Pakistanfor our fast-growing industry: this wouldhelp avoid the most probable long-termhealth complications for the people intime to come.

Z A KAZMIKarachi

A calrificationI need to clarify information about

the domestic violence bill that has beenpassed yesterday by the Senate. It seemsthat the information being dispersed isnot fully correct.

Firstly, this is not the bill that waspassed by the NA in 2009. That one isstill in the pipeline for the joint session.And for the last two years never came onthe agenda in a joint session. We wereexpecting it to come in the upcomingjoint session which might not happenagain.

This is a similar (but not the same)bill, moved as a fresh bill by SenatorNelofer Bakhtiar in the Senate. It is a pri-vate member bill and was tabled only afew days ago. It was passed after discus-sion unanimously and now it will go tothe NA session for their approval.

Secondly, it is important to note thatthis bill does not criminalises domesticviolence. This is only about getting anorder for protection or restraining orderto ensure that the abuser can be made tostay away from the aggrieved person andalso deals with some temporary mainte-nance and custody issues.

Thirdly, it is only for ICT as the Na-tional Assembly can only legislate forICT. It is not for the whole of the coun-try.

For criminalisation of the act of do-mestic violence we have preparedamendments to PPC and given to the HRMinistry a few months ago. That will bemoved as a government bill, I hope soon.That is for the whole country and will de-clare domestic violence a crime. We doneed to move fast on that front as bothtogether can make the crime account-able.

Media has been a superb partner ofthe women's legislative reform. I hope tohave continued support from you all.

FOUZIA SAEEDMember, National Commission on the

Status of Women

Human Rights violationThe way United State forces are mak-

ing human rights violation against theTaliban in Afghanistan is a sheer viola-tion of the Geneva Convention. The USMarines have been seen involved in uri-nation on the dead bodies of Taliban.The viewers feel humiliated. It’s a slap onthe face of humanity. No religion of theworld allows anyone to disrespect humandead bodies like that.

America must understand that it isan oppressor force in Afghanistan so theresistance is obvious. When two forcesare fighting, killings on both sides issure. America must realise that suchsteps are going to inflame the hatredwhich already prevails in the masses ofthe region.

DR HASNAT NABIIslamabad

Revival of KcRKarachi had a rail-tram combination

system since 1860s, which served the en-tire inner city’s known destinations, forthe city commuters and for the suburbantraffic, coming by NWR from Hyderabadand other towns too. This was destroyedin 1975, under bus operator’s lobby, lead-ing to acute saturation of most city roads.

KCR revival will cost $1.558bn,adding to Pakistan’s already hefty debts,whose debt servicing takes away 90 per-cent of resources, as alleged by someleaders. KCR cannot serve Karachi’smass transit needs.

MOC led RTC study of 1974-77, whilerefining the 1974 UNDP Master Plan’sMetro spine, for financial viability. It of-fers the first phase of 7km basement levelmetro from Tower to illegally occupiedJahangir Government quarters, could beeasily completed in a fraction of the costof KCR revival project, relieving theacute saturation of the worst traffic corri-dor along Mohammad Ali Jinnah Road,as also its heavy diversion on Shahrah-e-Faisal.

Needless to mention, as envisagedearlier, this could easily be implementedwith local resources, even utilising theexisting old KCR rolling stock to startwith till our industries could acquire ca-pability to fabricate these locally.

This will revive the vital PR-metrointerface at Tower, besides creating acentral bus terminal, with metro inter-face in the basement, high-rise commer-cial complex and a central park. Thedisturbed people could be rehabilitatedin four-storied economical housing, in asmall area in this locality or at someother suitable site.

In view of this analysis, as the authorof the 1975-77 RTC Plan, I wouldstrongly recommend the authorities tohave the RTC plan reviewed, as orderedby the then federal government, headedby Shaheed Z A Bhutto himself, in Dec1975, through local consultants withminimum foreign input.

S M H RIZVIKarachi

ZAB’s imageReference to a recent telecast TV talk

of Roedad Khan, a former top bureau-crat, in which he has once again tried todistort the image of Shaheed Zulfikar AliBhutto (ZAB) unnecessarily.

I have gone through some of his arti-cles, interviews and TV talks from timeto time and noted that the former bu-reaucrat, perhaps, had some personal en-mity with ZAB and he wanted to takerevenge from him by distorting his imageeven after his death.

Mr Roedad Khan was a close relativeof another bureaucrat Ishaq Khan (alsoformer president) who was a strong sup-porter of former army dictators and wasalso known for removing democrat gov-ernments when he was president.

I suggest Roedad Khan to write onefforts of Ishaq Khan and himself thatboth had made to weaken and removethe democratic governments in Pakistanin the past in order to support militarydictators from time to time.

MOHAMMAD KHAN SIALKarachi

welfare state – a wake-up call‘Welfare state is a necessity for Pak-

istan’, pointed out aptly by Dr Faisal Bariin his article ‘The struggling employed’published in Pakistan Today on 21 Feb-ruary). While illustrating the story ofAmir and the other low-income and low-skilled service industry workers, hebrought our attention to one of thebiggest predicaments that Pakistan is fac-ing nowadays.

These people are entrapped in an in-cessant mesh of the struggle to make

their survival possible. Given the hugeproportion of income inequality preva-lent in Pakistan, this is not just the casewith a few people but more than half ofthe current population of Pakistan is suf-fering from this tragedy.

Considering the income bracket ofthese people, they are hardly meetingtheir basic necessities of life, in such ascenario how could they manage to sendtheir children to schools and bear theirincremental expenses? They don’t even

have the money to afford health facilitiesrequired. This is indeed a dilemma of ourcountry. The suggestions put forward byDr Faisal Bari in his article are quite ap-propriate for that matter. Implementingthe model of providing free health andeducation facilities to these under-privi-leged people will help them to overcomethe sufferings of life.

This is where the role of the statecomes in. Offering a decent medical serv-ices and taking care of education expen-

ditures would cost money to the statebut, be that as it may, there is an urgentneed for this facility. If this initiative istaken properly, it will not only alleviatefinancial and psychological burden ofthose poor and lower-middle class fami-lies but also provide them an optimisticversion of life. Hence, it would be a pro-gressive step towards development and abetter future for Pakistan.

GUL-I-HINA SHAHZADLUMS, Lahore

finally!

Facets of theatre“I regard the theatre as the greatest

of all art forms. Most immediate way inwhich a human being can share with an-other the sense of what it is to be ahuman being.” (Oscar Wilde)

Unfortunately, people in Pakistanare unaware of this fine art because theyhave a misconceived perception about it.Theatre is not just a stage where actors“ACT,” it’s a platform where an individ-ual reincarnates and experiences thefeeling of being in someone else’s shoes.It is a platform where one can realisetheir potential and go beyond theboundaries that restricts their actions ineveryday life.

A major reason for decline of com-mercial theatre in Pakistan is that fi-nancers want immediate returns uponinvestment. However, ticket sales arelow and they are forced to find sponsorsand the cycle goes in reverse. Simultane-ously, utter indifference from govern-ment institutions causes the situation toworsen.

The government should help set upan auditorium with adequate facilities,provided to artists free of cost. Culturalstigmas also threaten the theatre fromflourishing. Consequently many talentedindividuals are forced to restore to moreconventional professions to earn a re-spectable living.

Consistent efforts and commitmentsare needed from government as well astheatre groups, for promotion and sus-tenance of progress in this field. Thiswill ultimately enhance the culture andimage of Pakistan worldwide.

TALAL ALI JANPakistan

False promisesWhen the present government took

office, the first thing they had promisedwas that power loadshedding would beabolished soon through a top prioritystrategy.

A little later, they said if a total rid-dance could not be achieved, it would atleast be reduced to tolerable levels. But

seeing the present state of power supply(18 hours of loadshedding a day inMuzaffargarh), it is obvious that theelectric supply situation has degener-ated to an extremely intolerable leveland the government has reneged on oneof its vital promises.

This they have done without evenbatting an eyelid showing no sign of re-morse. This means they really don’t careif they win or lose the next general elec-tions indicating that they have plun-dered the public exchequer to theirheart’s content by now which is enoughto last them a lifetime.

Another painful burden they haveinflicted on the people is that in the in-ternational market the maximum priceof a unit of electricity in rupee terms isRs 9 per unit which WAPDA is selling usnow for Rs 16 per unit.

This price can be afforded by notmore then 15 percent of our population.Thus our people stand deprived of anessential utility.

MUHAMMAD AMJADMuzaffargarh

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk. Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

Difa-e-Pakistan Council setup a stageat a new venue in capital city of Islam-abad and once again warned governmentagainst restoring NATO supply routesand granting the MFN status to India.Difa-e-Pakistan Council - an amalgama-tion of some groups and individual fig-ures, former military generals, politiciansand also members of right-wing partieshave gathered under the umbrella of abanned organisation with a new nametag. The council is propagating the fol-lowing slogan in masses “against US ag-gression, NATO supplies, drones, Indianterrorism and MFN. We will unite andprotect Pakistan from all threats wouldlove to die for its defence.”

Despite criticism by supportive par-ties administration of capital territorydid not allow three leaders of banned or-ganisations, Jamaatud Dawa’s chiefHafiz Muhammad Saeed, chief of AhleSunnat wal Jamat Maulana Ahmed Lud-hianwi and Malik Ishaq, the founders ofthe banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to enter Islamabad, but silence

of government at their participation andspeeches in previous rallies cannot be ig-nored. What steps the government ofBalochistan would initiate in the nextrally of DPC is also an important ques-tion?

The union of 40 religious, politicalparties and banned organisations activelycame on scene after NATO attack insidePakistan during November, last year.Within short a span of time the councilorganised successful rallies in five majorcities including Islamabad while its nextdestination will be Quetta.

The leaders of council pledged thatthey would offer every sacrifice to pre-serve and uphold the sovereignty, territo-rial integrity and ideological boundariesof the country, but at the very first levelthere is need to check individuals, groupsand parties sitting in this union who theyare, what is their back ground and whohas given them this mandate? If we re-view profiles and agenda of these leadersand these organisations or parties it be-comes clear that many of them have been

involved in activities that create seriousinternal and external threats to thiscountry or having ideologies and inten-tions against state declared policy for de-fence of country.

The head-chairman of this counciland leader of his own faction JamiatUlema-e-Islam (JUI-S) Maulana Sami-ul-Haq himself is closely linked to theTaliban movement in Afghanistan. Heplayed a leading role in the Nizam-e-Mustafa Movement in 1977. The othermain party in this alliance is Sipah-e-Sa-haba (SSP), banned inside Pakistan andalso internationally but working withnew official name that is Ahle-Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat. The official name haschanged but not the agenda as its statedgoal is to primarily deter major Shia in-fluence in Pakistan in the wake of theIranian revolution. The other big nameMalik Ishaq, head of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi,the organisation which has been blamedfor a string of attacks inside Pakistan andhas often been linked to Al-Qaeda.

In the list of forty, the most active

party is Jamaat-ud-Dawa, headed byHafiz Saeed, who has been exonerated bythe courts of all charges. The other wellfamed name in late 80s, the ex-spymas-ter Gen Hammid Gul is also one of theleading personalities who are out to de-fend Pakistan and he is the one whobluntly opposes the current policy ofstate to counter terrorism and defencestrategy.

Not only the banned outfits and gen-erals holding old narrative and policy arefully supported by the religious parties ofthe country, but also an emerging partyclaiming itself to be liberal, the PTI ofImran Khan, is also hand in hand withSipah-e-Sahaba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa.Though PML(N) has not joined thiscouncil but the ideology of this party isambiguous as its leaders have oftenshown soft corner for banned organisa-tions to take their vote bank in hands asPunjab government ignored flourishingof these organisations and their arms.

HUMAIRA KANWALIslamabad

A little about Difa-e-Pakistan council

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:31 AM Page 11

Comment12Friday, 24 February, 2012

Arif NizamiEditor

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

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

why the procrastination?

ending the stalemate

After advising Marc Grossman last month to putoff his visit, Islamabad has now asked CentcomChief Gen James Mattis also to delay hisarrival till the parliament redefines the

parameters of relations with the US. The need for themove was felt by Pakistan’s establishment afterPakistani troops guarding two checkposts along the Pak-Afghan border were killed in an attack by the Natoforces two and half months back. Earlier it was given outthat the exercise might take between a week and tendays. Now we are being told that the matter would besettled after the Senate elections have been held and it ispossible to convene a joint session of the parliament.Presumably, the delay is being caused by some of theoutstanding issues still remaining unsettled. As aparliamentary committee has already formulated itsrecommendations, a joint session could have been calledany time this month. If constitutional amendments canbe enacted by the parliament without waiting for theSenate elections, the new policy towards the US couldalso have been brought before it for debate andapproval.

The prolongation of the standoff is likely to createmore complications for the region. The ill-conceivedresolution on Balochistan presented by threeCongressmen has led to a campaign against the USdespite the Obama administration distancing itself fromthe move. The standoff during the crucial endgame inthe neighbouring country can only prolong the miseriesof the Afghan people while it will also provideencouragement to militants operating inside Pakistan.There is a need on the part of the US and Pakistan tourgently resolve outstanding issues to fight the commonenemy together.

The US needs to apologise for the attack on Pakistanicheckposts. Furthermore, it has to give a sharedresponsibility to the Pakistan army in the ordering of thedrone attacks. Among other things, this would hopefullyminimise civilian casualties. The proposed meeting inLondon between Secretary Clinton and Foreign MinisterKhar should prove to be a game-changer.

terror lives on

Another blast

Yesterday’s bomb blast in Peshawar is a ghastlyreminder, yet again, of how unresolved theterror crisis actually is in the country. By citinga gradually reducing number of terror

instances, the advocates of complacency and status quoargue that the war of terror need not be prioritisedabove everything else for the state to combat. A naiveargument. Granted, things aren’t 2009 anymore, but thedecrease in instances of terror could be attributed to ahost of factors other than a sustainable routing out ofthe forces of orthodoxy.

First of all, they have received a good drubbing. Notas good as they could have gotten, but a number, if notall, of the groups did find it hard to go about theirbusiness the way they used to. That is a state of affairsthat ends as soon as the clampdown ends. Secondly, thegroups, it has been reported, considered a bit of brandmanagement. This consideration has been going onright since the days the TTP was commanded byBaitullah Mehsud. The plan seemed to have beenjettisoned by Hakeemullah Mehsud, his mercurialsuccessor but is reportedly being considered again. TheSwat Taliban, whose actions could not have beendefended by the most rabid conservatives press sectionsof the country, made things worse for theaforementioned PR exercise; there could be somecompensation for that. Moreover, with (seemingly)centrist political parties taking centre stage in trying toexplain how not to fight the Taliban, the latter feels itmust do its part for now; since the fascist control thatthese bodies have over the tribal areas doesn’t reallybother the mainstream media, they really don’t havemuch to lose and everything to gain by staying off theradar. Hence, the lowered activity, barring the periodicattacks on ANP activists, their most consistent nemesison the political spectrum; civil armed forces; occasionalgirls’ school and general targets, like yesterday’stransport station.

We don’t need one-dimensional analysis off excelsheets. We need an accurate picture of the holistic wholeand act upon it.

An US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has put a reso-lution in the US Lower House to the effect thatBalochistan should be an independent territory as

Baloch people want to get rid of both Punjabis and Pashtun(large ethnic groups in Pakistan) that have usurped all re-sources at the expense of people in Balochistan.

It is least expected that other members of the House inAmerican Congress will support the resolution on Balochis-tan. However, Dana has presented the resolution at a timewhen the heads of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran were hold-ing a meeting and decided that the three neighboring Islamiccountries would not allow their respective soils to be usedagainst each other for any foreign power’s vested interests.

Dana was all silent and did not raise voice for the Balochpeople when Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed during Mushar-raf’s era and similarly he was a mum spectator only to thesituation when Musharraf was handing over air terminals to

America in Balochistan.In fact, the US Congress member wants to carve a way

out for Dr Shakeel Afridi, the person alleged for spying onOsama in Abbottabad. He also seems to have an aim to sab-otage any unity that might develop between Pakistan, Iranand Afghanistan.

Dana has nothing serious to offer to the Baloch people,but he wants to fulfill his designs at the cost of the others.Pakistani masses are now vigilant enough to the ground re-alities as to which country has good designs and who har-bours ill will for them, and would not tolerate anyinterference in their internal affairs without any reason.

The resolution on Balochistan is tantamount to the con-spiracies hatched against Libya by Americans. However,America must know that it is not an easy walk either to re-sort to firing by using Baloch shoulders for their hidden de-signs.

– Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur RaufKhattak

Using Baloch shouldersPashtun Post

Regional Press

The Baloch grievanceWounds that keep bleeding

Interior Minister Rehman Maliksays cases against Baloch separatistleaders are being withdrawn.About time he said something sen-sible.

The government has been groping inthe dark on Balochistan. In fact, it wasn’teven groping, because you only gropewhen you are looking for something, ortrying to go somewhere. The Gilani gov-ernment was obviously doing neither ofthe two. It was sitting pretty watching thekhakis do whatever they have always donein Balochistan.

Look where it got us.Trust an obscure backbencher Ameri-

can congressman by the name of DanaRohrabacher to jolt the government out ofits lethargy and indifference. It was al-most as if the government had no ideahow bad the Balochistan situation had be-come until the congressman came andopened up a can of worms, so to speak.Suddenly, Balochistan started trending asthe hottest topic under the sun, forcingthe government to do something, any-thing.

So what does it do? Call an All PartiesConference (APC). The disgruntled Balochwere clearly not impressed. And neitherwas anyone else, for that matter. APC is ado-nothing tactic used by governmentswhen they want to show they're doingsomething. In the name of building con-sensus, a whole lot of nothing happens.Remember the APC in the Prime Minis-ter's house last year, called to debate theMay 2 incident? Everyone who thinks he'sanyone was there. Net result? Zero.

Here then is the real deal: the govern-ment does not control what happens inBalochistan. And yes, I'm talking aboutthe federal government, and not theBalochistan government because that'snot even worth talking about. The govern-ment can announce packages, promisejobs, offer development, etc but at thisstage, all this doesn’t cut it.

What does then? A stop to killings, fora start. This is easier said than done. Let'sface it: Balochistan right now is a compli-cated mess. If you are looking to heapblame on one side, and one side alone,you've got another thing coming. If the FCand the security agencies are spillingblood – and lots of it – they are not theonly one. The tit-for-tat has got so bad,and so ugly, and so gruesome, that it is

very easy to lose sight of the bigger pic-ture. Someone, somehow, somewhere hasto put a stop to this vortex of violence be-fore things actually spin out of control.

Haven't they already, you ask? Per-haps not yet. If you hear the likes of Brah-mdagh Bugti and Herbayar Marri,Balochistan appears to be on the verge ofgoing its way. Hopefully, that's not thecase. But whatever is left of the case isbeing systematically destroyed by the gov-ernment and the establishment.

Here's how: the government is not ina position to give the angry Baloch whatthey want. The establishment is. But so farit does not appear inclined to do so. Thereis a narrative that has been peddled forsome time and it goes something like this:a handful of Baloch sardars and their off-spring are creating trouble while the ma-jority is ready to work within theconstitutional structure. This clique ofsardars has been milking the state for allits worth, and flirting with the enemy atthe same time. The enemy gives themguns and money. Hence they are traitors.And traitors deserve to be … well you getthe point.

This may be partially true. But thingschanged after the killing of Akbar Bugti.The Baloch narrative of persecution,which had always existed but never reallygained enough traction to become a seri-ous concern for Islamabad, suddenlybegan to acquire a new life. The reactionto Bugti's killing elicited a counter-reac-tion which sparked off a series of eventsthat ended up with mutilated bodies beingfound on deserted roads.

But this somehow never registered onthe national radar. The parliament wastoo busy playing partisan politics, theprovincial government was too busy stuff-ing its pockets while suspended in its nat-ural position of inertia, the media was toobusy focusing on ratings-driven content,and the establishment, well, was amongother things dealing with America, India,Afghanistan, Swat, FATA and the rest. Sopeople kept getting dead in Balochistan

but no one took note.No wonder when Baloch are asked

what the problem is, they reach for thegun.

What now then? The Prime Ministerhas staked much on his APC. It will be aflop. Nawaz Sharif has already as good asopted out. Baloch leaders who matterhave reacted to the meeting with a con-tempt that was not unexpected. And theestablishment has given no indication yetthat it is reviewing its way of doing thingsin Balochistan. In a belated reaction,Rehman Malik has now announced a se-ries of steps which he hopes will cool thetemperature and bring the Baloch to thetable. He says not only are cases againstBrahmdagh, Herbiyar and other Balochleaders being withdrawn, he will person-ally receive them at the airport if they de-cide to return to Pakistan.

Now we at least know Rehman Malikhas a heart. Sadly, it's in the wrong place.

Yet again he's skirting the real issue:killings. Till some headway is made onthis issue – and I mean practical headway,not just Mr Malik's rhetorical flourishes –all other steps being announced with thegovernment will remain what they actu-ally are: sops.

And sops are not what the Balochneed right now. Sadly sops are all that thegovernment has to offer through the APC.It is a waste of time. Regardless of who isright and who is wrong, the initiative tostop this slide into the abyss has to betaken by the establishment. There will beplenty of time later to determine the he-roes and villains.

For once, let's make some new mis-takes instead of repeating old ones.

The writer hosts a primetime talkshow on ARY News. He has worked as Di-rector News of Express News and DunyaNews and Editor The News, Islamabad.He can be reached atfahd.husain1@gmail.com or on Twitter@fahdhusain

By Fahd Husain

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:31 AM Page 12

Comment 13Friday, 24 February, 2012

The curious timing of the balochistan resolution

US: the ally from hellWhile balochistan bleeds, the Cm races a three-wheeler in islamabad

Ride on, Raisani!

In this photograph the bikermerits attention. Try guessingwho rides this fancy open-air

vehicle. Neither Islamabad’s headsecurity honcho Rehman Malik nora pampered teenager. Cruising inthe capital city of Islamabad on thisrare and jazzy blue three-wheeler isa VVIP, a political leader on a powerride and sans security.

Believe it or not but it is theChief Minister of our country’slargest and most troubled provinceof Balochistan. The 56-year-old MrAslam Khan Raisani, the one veryoften missing in action from Quetta.This spectacle left my driver LajbarKhan impressed who praised himendlessly for going around withoutany security trappings. “Yeh tumanna parhey ga k yeh bohotdalair adami hai,” Khan exclaimed.One wondered if it was Mr Raisani’sspirit of adventurism, valiance, re-bellious mind-set or his survival in-stinct that made him venture intothis free-spirited ride. Or maybe thetragic deaths of many VVIPs andnon-VVIPs in this country, with orwithout security cover, that havemade the man from Balochistan in-different to security trappings.

Mr Raisani, who spends most ofhis days in Islamabad, was pho-tographed when he left the Gun &Country Club after his day’s fitnessregime on this head-turner of ascooter and halted at the traffic sig-nal. But upon realising that he wasphotographed, the CM zoomed offlike a bullet, disappearing withinseconds. He could also do this onhis Harley Davidson, the dream ve-hicle of all bike-riders.

Mr Raisani can correct me, butfrom the looks of it, it seems thatperhaps pressured by the fast dete-riorating security conditions of thepeople in his province, the CM hassort of opted out. To soothe his ownfrazzled nerves, the tormented Mr

Raisani has opted for the serene en-virons of the city away from thebleeding Balochistan. Tension-freein Islamabad, he can indulge in hisfive-star bikes and three-wheelers.In Balochistan, the CM and mostothers in the Assembly insist, it isnot they who control the affairs ofBalochistan on the security front.It’s the army-controlled FC, theysay.

In fact, the PPP President ofBalochistan, Lashkari Raisani, re-signed from his party post pleading'no authority.' Politicians oftenargue that matters in Balochistanare 'too complicated.' Even themore determined Senator RazaRabbani, asked by the PM to head

the Aghaaz-i-Haqqooq-i- Balochis-tan Committee, concedes in privatethat there wasn’t much that thecivilians controlled on missing per-sons and security front etc.

Meanwhile, Mr Raisani, whospends most of his time with friendsand new family, nestled in the com-fortable capital, may be engaged insome soul-searching, some free-wheeling brain-storming sessionsplus some lateral thinking, to helphim devise innovative solutions forPakistan's most suffering citizens ofBalochistan.

Unfortunately, the CM, of aprovince fast descending into chaos,hit largely by state repression, bymilitant terrorism and also nation-alist violence, has not often shownsigns of soberly engaging with theunfolding tragedies in his province.

Significantly, at this pointBalochistan has once again becomethe focus of attention after the con-troversial resolution introduced bya US Republican Congressmanseeking self-determination for theBaloch. The resolution that evokeda prompt and negative reactionthroughout the country, has beenwidely welcomed in Balochistan.

All the provincial assemblies,except the Balochistan Assembly, in

which every member carries a min-isterial portfolio of some sort,passed a resolution condemning themove by the American lawmaker.This speaks volume of how alien-ated the people of Balochistan feeland more importantly of the tacitendorsement of the resolution bythe Baloch nationalists, some ofwhom have also openly spoken upin its favour. In the face of strongprotests by the government at vari-ous diplomatic levels here and inWashington, the Obama Adminis-tration was quick to distance itselffrom the resolution, saying that itdid not in any way reflect the gov-ernment’s policy. But then no onemore senior than the US embassy

spokesperson stepped forward tosay that Obama Administrationconsiders Balochistan an integralpart of Pakistan.

While the resolution moved bythe US Congressman cannot becondoned in any way, it did serve asa wake-up call for the governmentand military establishment which islargely in control of the province. Togive the devil his due the resolutionby the US Congressman has againwoken up our leaders from their re-curring criminal slumber on thedeeply wronged Balochistan. Themedia too has been re-invigorated.

Yet again the government iscalling an APC on Balochistan. Howwill this be more productive thanthe previous one? We will all waitand see how deep the government'sconcern is for the people ofBalochistan. Meanwhile, you rideon, Mr Raisani!

The writer is a senior journalistand has been a diplomatic corre-spondent for leading dailies. Shewas an Alfred Friendly Press Fel-low at The Chicago Tribune in theUS and a Press Fellow at WolfsonCollege, Cambridge, UK. She canbe reached via email atqudssia@hotmail.com

Cross CurrentsBy Qudssia Akhlaque

The marriage of convenience be-tween Pakistan and the US haslong soured into a marriage of dis-

trust, inconvenience and duplicity. WhileWashington has been clamouring aboutPakistan not doing enough for the War onTerror, Islamabad has repeatedly felt be-trayed by the US for not living up to theirpromises and continued drone strikes inPakistani territory. The incident of Salalacheck post seemed to be the final nail inthe coffin, and surely in the aftermath ofthe Salala attack, the relationship cata-pulted for the worse. “Absolute non-sense!” was the reply of a senior foreignoffice official, after I inquired about thereports that were emerging about the in-cident from NATO. “Following their fail-ure in Afghanistan, the NATO forces aremerely trying to shift the blame to Pak-istan. I have read the NATO report and itis nothing more than recycling informa-tion, to try to divert attention from theirevident failure in Afghanistan. There isnothing new in the report. They need toget their house in order before pointingfingers at us.”

And surely the tone of the foreign of-fice official, speaking on condition ofanonymity, sets the general mood preva-lent in certain quarters of Islamabad. Pak-istan is not happy, China is well aware ofUS’ duplicity, Russia isn’t too keen on USmisadventures in the region either. Andwhat about the most important ally of the

US in the region, India? Well,according to The Times, India isnot only continuing to purchaseoil from Iran but has also be-come the largest customer ofIranian oil and has no plans ofcutting down these purchases.

Indians, in a very matter offact tone, said that their pur-chasing of Iranian oil is a matterof economic necessity giventheir dependence on oil. If werecall, this isn’t the first timethat India decided to stick it upto the Americans. India afterflirting with the US, betrayedthe country by finalising a 12billion dollar defence deal withFrance for buying the Rafalefighter jets over American F-16IN/F-18 Super Hornet, Russ-ian Mig-35, Swedish Gripen andthe last final contender the Eu-rofighter Typhoon.

Therefore, the Americanshuddled up in their cozy ‘we arebetter than you’ cocoons de-cided that oil embargoes on Iranwould be the best way to bringthe country to its knees. Simplyadding up the numbers, they feltthat since the country’s econ-

omy derives much of its income from oilsales, sanctions will cripple the state, allthe Iranian oil customers would be lost,Iran would not be able to tap into thealien races on Mars for oil exports, andthus with stocked inventories the peoplewould run to the streets begging for food,and Ahmedinejad would cry out to UncleObama. Clearly, you can note the sarcasmin my tone, because till now no one hasabandoned Iran and they do not seem ina mood to do so.

And in such a setting, the tripartitesummit, between the leaders ofAfghanistan, Pakistan and Iran has sentstrong tremors to Washington. The re-gional leaders realise that following thewithdrawal of the US forces fromAfghanistan, the fallout of a volatile situ-ation in Kabul would have devastatingimplications for Islamabad and Tehran.While the outcome of the summit and thesuccess of it remain to be seen, one thingis for certain; the regional players haverealised that they can no longer afford torely on the false promises of the US. Is-lamabad’s commitment to the Iran-Pak-istan gas pipeline is also an indication ofthe changing priorities of those sitting inthe echelons of power in the country.

With all things US, they decided itwas time to play their trump, Baloch card.The leadership in Pakistan clearly has ig-nored the region for far too long. How-ever, at the same time, the Balochcommunity has also been betrayed by thetribal leaders. What stands out though isthe curious timing of the resolution, call-ing for the right of the Baloch people toself-determination, which was tabled dur-ing the visit of Karzai and Ahmedinejadto Islamabad. For the discerning eye, thisis a desperate attempt of the US to exac-erbate the imbroglio being brewed inBalochistan. And while one can forgivethe Americans for tabling the resolution,one fails to understand the role of thearmy in the region that has allowed insur-gents to freely operate in the province.Pakistan can no longer afford to ignorematters as it did in Swat or the tribalareas. It will have to take action, it willhave to give the Baloch people a stake inthe matters and it will have to free theBaloch from the fetters of the regressivetribal leaders.

As for the US, it finds itself badly cor-nered. An interventionist approach hasnot worked and will not work in SouthAsia and the Middle East anymore. Withtheir debts exceeding 15 trillion dollars, itneeds to focus on the American people andlet others decide what is best for them.

The writer is City Editor, PakistanToday. He can be reached atali.rizvi7957@gmail.com

By Ali Rizvi

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:31 AM Page 13

mUmbAi: Vidya Balan, whose filmcount includes mostly female-oriented themes, says the Bollywoodfilm industry changed over the yearsand co-incidentally she has becomethe face of this change. “I believethat change doesn't happenovernight, it takes time. I am luckythat today when we are feeling thechange, it's a co-incidence that Ihave become a face of this change,”she said in an interview. Vidya gavestrong performances in ‘Ishqiya’,‘Paa’, ‘no One Killed Jessica’ and‘the Dirty Picture’. the 33-year-old,who will be seen next in SujoyGhosh's ‘Kahaani’, feels lucky to bepresent at a time when suchstories are being written. “I amlucky to be a part of Indiancinema at a time when suchstories and roles are beingwritten and I am getting achance to be a part of suchgood films. I try to do my workhonestly. It feels great to getso much love from the people,”said Vidya who had stormedthe industry with her veryfirst film ‘Parineeta’ in 2005.Releasing March 9, her nextfilm ‘Kahaani’ is a thrillerand shows a pregnantwoman's struggle to findher missing husband inKolkata. AgENCiES

14 Friday, 24 February, 2012

IN LIMELIGHT

LoS AngELES REUTERS

TELEVISION entrepreneurSimon Cowell says he'slearned one lesson from theUS launch of his TV show‘The X Factor’. To keep his

big mouth shut. That means he is notcommenting on speculation that musicstars such as Britney Spears, Janet Jack-son and Black Eyed Peas singer Fergiemight become judges when the revampedTV singing show returns. Nor is Cowellfalling into his own trap again and plan-ning on forecasting the size of the TV au-

dience for the second season-except to sayit will be bigger than last year's 13 millionaverage viewers, which was far below hispre-season boasts. “I shot my big mouthoff as usual,” the acid-tongued Briton toldreporters in conference call, referring tohis forecast that ‘X Factor’ would draw 20million viewers, and topple ‘AmericanIdol’ as the most-watched show on US TV.It didn't come close, and last month Cow-ell fired judges Paula Abdul, NicoleScherzinger and host Steve Jones in amajor shake-up. “I was coming off a mas-sive year in the UK, where (the British ver-sion of ‘X Factor’) had gone over 20million and then quickly realised I shouldhave kept my mouth shut,” he said. “I ab-solutely expect the second season to dobetter than the first. I learned a lot fromlast year. I genuinely learned a lot, and Ithink we have learned how we can makethe show better.” Cowell said he could notcomment on any of the names that havesurfaced in recent weeks as possible newjudges. “There is a load of speculation,some true, some not true. We will meet anumber of people over the next few weeks.I have learned a big lesson-keep yourmouth shut,” he said. Cowell did say thathe wants to have two hosts next season-aman and a woman-saying that running alive TV show was too much for one personto handle alone and that two hosts wouldbe more fun. Nationwide auditions for thesecond season of ‘X Factor’ and a $5 mil-lion recording contract start in March. Au-ditions before the new panel of judgeshowever are not expected to start for an-other two months.

Saira-Shakira sell out collection at launch exhibition

nEWS DESk

The label Saira Shakira, a duo by Sairaand Shakira, is a leading clothing brandthat offers bridal, formal and casualclothing line. Saira Faisal and ShakiraUsman, both graduates and distinctionholders from Pakistan School of FashionDesign, are the principal designers for thisbrand. Both are well known in theindustry- Saira, as a fashion diva andShakira for her intricate sketches andfashion drawing. Working together since2005, they officially launched their brandSaira Shakira in 2011 with the opening oftheir studio at 140-C, Model Town,Lahore. The brand offers sleek cuts andcontemporary designs along with a tingeof traditional motifs. The label designs

clothes for women who are looking forelegance and a mix of modernity andtradition in their clothes. The brand isavailable in USA, UK and Canada. Thethree-day launch, held at their outlet, sawa massive turnout. The red carpet washosted by Sumaira Malik of FM 91 alongwith the model Sophiya Khan, beautifullydressed in Saira Shakira creations.Natasha Hussein, Amna Baber, AlizehGabol, Saim, Fia and Rana Noman wereamong the celebrities present. The duoannounced that they are going to presenttheir bridal as well as formal collection bythis summer. The event’s PR was arrangedby Aamir Mazhar of SavvyPR and Eventswhereas the media launch and presscoordination was handled by AmmaraHikmat of Encyclomedia PR.

arm candy?

Simon Cowell learns to keep his

mouth shut

Is Nargis Shahid’s new

lAHORe: Saira-Shakira launch

latest collection. STAff phOTOS

lOS AnGeleS: Bella thorne, Frankie Muniz, Helen Mirren and Kevin McKidd arrive at the world premiere of Disney’s ‘John carter’. Afp

mUmbAi: After Anushka Sharmaand Bipasha Basu, nargis Fakhri isthe new name which has beenlinked to Shahid Kapoor. the actor,who will be turning a year olderon February 25, is all set tocelebrate his day with a bash inGoa. while most of the guestswere scheduled to fly down onthursday night, a tabloid spottedShahid leaving for Goa onwednesday accompanied by‘Rockstar’ actress nargis Fakhri.the tabloid also claimed thatPriyanka chopra, former girlfriendof Shahid is not part of the guestlist. last year too Shahid hadthrown a big bash, and Priyankawas missing from the scene.Meanwhile, the party in Goa issupposed to be a huge bash withalmost all of Bollywood’s A-listersbeing invited. Rani Mukherjee,tabu, Genelia-Riteish and KunalKohli are some of the celebritieswho will be present at the party. Asource said, “Shahid had plannedhis birthday in a big way. He flewdown to Goa two days before theparty to arrange things. the partywill be held at his friend’sbungalow in Morjim beach.”Priyanka out, nargis in? Does italso mean that a new romance isround the corner? we will justhave to wait and watch. AgENCiES

mUmbAi: Akshay has done manyaction films at the beginning of hiscareer but has never played agangster. All set to do so for thefirst time, the actor is preparinghimself by watching gangstermovies. Akshay is excited aboutplaying a gangster in hisforthcoming film, the sequel ofmilan Luthria's super hit film ‘OnceUpon A Time in mumbai’. The actorhas started his preparations too,for this. it can be recalled that Ajaywho played a gangster in ‘OUATim’received a lot of praise for hisperformance. Akshay doesn't wantto leave any stone unturned toprepare for his character, and haslately been watching a lot ofbollywood and Hollywood gangstermovies. The actor is keen ongetting his body language right forhis role. He is also going out of hisway to read books on the samelines lent to him by milan. The filmis in its pre-production stage. it isinteresting to note that the actoris taking so much effort to get intothe skin of his character. Let'shope this delivery by him is power-packed. AgENCiES

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:32 AM Page 14

nEWS DESk

TWO years ago, AliZafar’s Bollywooddebut, ‘Tere BinLaden’ (2010) that

the Pakistani singer-actor wasco-distributing in Pakistan,was banned three days beforeits release in the country forfear that Islamist extremistscould use it as a pretext for ter-ror attacks. The ban followedeven after the producers haddecided to drop the wordLaden from the title, and re-lease it as ‘Tere Bin’ (WithoutYou) in Pakistan. Despitewidespread protests and anappeal for a review, the filmdidn’t get an official release inthe country. Ali is confident itwon’t happen this time withhis forthcoming release, ‘Lon-don Paris New York’. “There’sa huge buzz, people are lookingforward to it,” he asserts. “Infact, we’re planning a big, redcarpet premiere in Karachi onMarch 8 if we can get the req-uisite permission.” Ali hasbeen promoting the film exten-sively in Pakistan. Rationalis-

ing that so far no Pakistaniactor has made it big in Bolly-wood commercially, Ali insiststhat his success is being seenas an encouraging sign backhome, that the barriers arebreaking and the markets onboth sides are finally openingup. ‘London Paris New York’ ishis first love story, and there’sbeen plenty of talk about inti-mate scenes and even a kiss.Won’t this create problemsback home? Ali insists it won’t:“The scenes have been taste-fully done, there’s nothingshocking. Besides, times arechanging with more exposureto the West. Anyway, I exerciseself-censorship and wouldnever cross the line.”

15Katy Perry forays into the small screen

with ‘Raising Hope’LoS AngELES

CbS

It helps tohave goodfriends onpopular TVshows. Popstar Katy Perryhas landed aguest spot onan episode of‘Raising Hope’. Perry will play Rikki, aprison attendant who claims to be afriend from Sabrina's (actress ShannonWoodward) past. It turns out thenewly-single Perry is close withWoodward in real life. “ShannonWoodward is my best friend,” Perrysaid in a statement. “A couple weeksago, I was home when she called me upand asked if I wanted to do something'fun' for a change and try out a guestrole on her TV show. I thought, 'Sure, Ihave nothing else to do, and I likechillin' with my best friend.” The‘California Gurl’ is not a completestranger to acting. In 2011, she gueststarred on the sitcom, ‘How I Met YourMother.’ She's taken part in ‘SaturdayNight Live’ sketches and voiced theSmurfette character in the 2011 big-screen adaptation of ‘The Smurfs’.

mTV to airDemi Lovato treatment special

LoS AngELESAgENCiES

After a highlypublicisedbreakdown,rehab and thena triumphantreturn to thespotlight,Demi Lovato isready to letcameras follow her personal strugglesand recovery from various issues suchas her admitted eating and cuttingdisorders. MTV's ‘Demi Lovato: StayStrong’ will show Demi giving herfirst-hand account of the breakdownthat led her to rehab, how the singer isdealing with confronting her issues sopublicly, and her heading back on tourto face her fears after her 2010 showwas cut short. The special will seeDemi going back for the first time tothe facility she entered in October2010 to talk to other teens candidlyabout her experiences. “I wanted toshare my story but I knew it had to behonest, it had to be real,” says Demi.

Vidya: I've become the face of change

Amitabh Bachchan

discharged

miLAN:

A model displays

a creation as part

as max mara fall-

winter 2012-2013

collection during

the Women's

fashion week. AFP

mUmbAi: Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan denied starting a fight inwhich he is accused of breaking a man's nose at a luxury hotelin Mumbai, saying he was acting in self-defence. Khan said thebrawl began when his girlfriend, actress Kareena Kapoor, andother companions were verbally abused by fellow diners at thewasabi Japanese restaurant in the taj Mahal Palace hotel.“there was an ugly incident where my friends and the ladieswith us were abused and I was assaulted,” Khan said in hisfirst reaction to the incident. “I was hit and I defended myself,”he added. Saif Ali Khan also publicly said sorry for the incident.He also clarified that the incident has nothing to do with thepromotion of his forthcoming film ‘Agent Vinod’. “whatever Ihad to say, I had cleared yesterday. It shouldn’t have happened.It was an unfortunate incident. In a way I would like to saysorry for whatever happened.” Khan, who was released on bailwednesday after being charged with voluntarily causing severehurt, is accused by South African businessman Iqbal MeerSharma of pushing him and breaking his nose. Police saidSharma claimed he was punched in the face after a “heatedargument” with the actor over allegedly “rowdy and raucous”behaviour by Khan and his friends. “I have been to the police toanswer the requirements of law as I am a law-abiding citizen,”Khan said. “I have seen Sharma's interviews on tV. they looklike decent people. I cannot believe how aggressive they wereon that night and the lies they are telling about me with suchstraight faces,” he added. Khan has filed a return complaintalleging Sharma started the incident. AgENCiES

brawl was self-defenceSaif Ali Khan apologises, says

nEWS DESk

Pakistani director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoyhas been nominated for an Academy Awardfor her documentary ‘Saving Face’, co-di-rected with Daniel Junge, and will be at-tending the 84th Annual Academy Awardsin Los Angeles scheduled to take place on26th February.

22nd February: Chinoy will be at-tending the Academy Awards of Motion Pic-tures and Sciences Third Annual DOCS’celebration hosted by Micheal Moore who isan American filmmaker, author, social criticand activist. Nominated filmmakers willparticipate in a panel discussion, and clipsfrom each of the Oscar nominated docu-mentary features and short subjects for the84th Academy Awards will be shown.

23rd February: Chinoy along withco-producer Daniel Junge will be inter-viewed by Chris Miller (comedic writer) forthe Shorts Entertainment Network for theirdocumentary ‘Saving Face’.

24th February: The filmmaker willbe attending The Fifth Annual Women inFilm Pre-Oscar Soiree hosted by the Acad-emy Award winner and President of

Women In Film, Cathy Schulman, AcademyAward winner Gwyneth Paltrow, and theBoard of Women In Film, Los Angeles.

24th February: Sharmeen will be at-tending a dinner hosted by the Consul Gen-eral of Pakistan in Los Angeles.

24th February: She will be attendingthe 2nd Annual Shorts Awards scheduled totake place the Soho House West Hollywood.The awards will honour the filmmakers ofthe Oscar nominated shorts- live action, an-imated and documentaries and will be pre-senting a Lifetime Achievement Award inShort Film and the Visionary Awards.

25th February: The filmmaker will be

attending the International DocumentaryAssociations’ (IDA) at the Writers Guild ofAmerica Theater. The general public willview the Oscar nominated documentariesand meet the filmmakers. ‘Saving Face’ willbe screened along with other documen-taries which have been nominated for anOscar. Chinoy and Junge will also be pres-ent during the question and answer sessionfollowing the screenings.

26th February: Chinoy will be at-tending The 84th Academy Awards cere-mony. Sharmeen will walk the red carpetwith husband Fahad Chinoy wearing a cus-tom made outfit by renowned couturierBunto Kazmi and will be wearing jewelleryexclusively designed for Sharmeen for theoccasion by Kiran Aman of Kiran Fine Jew-ellery. Sharmeen will be attending afterOscar events in an ensemble by Sana Safi-naz with exclusive jewellery by SherezadRahimtoola.

1st march: The director is a seniorTED fellow and will be speaking at the TEDU (Ted University) conference in MiamiFlorida, about the Hundreds of women inPakistan who are victims of acid violenceevery year.

Karachi premierefor Ali Zafar’s next

Jennifer Aniston puts name in star on Walk of Fame

Sharmeen Obaid on the road to Oscar glory

LoS AngELES REUTERS

ACTRESS JenniferAniston was hon-oured with a star onHollywood’s Walk of

Fame on Wednesday, the firstof the ‘Friends’ actors to receivethe emblem of celebrity thatshe described as “surreal.” “Iwas born in Sherman Oaks,California. I am a California girlthrough and through, and I'msure this is always just sort ofbeen in the back of my mind,”said Aniston at the ceremony.“It probably wasn't even adream, it was one of my wildestdreams. I don't think that I evereven thought that this would behere, this day. So I am utterlyhumbled and grateful,” the‘Friends’ actress told her fansand friends. Aniston was joinedby her father John Aniston and‘Wanderlust’ co-stars includingboyfriend Justin Theroux asshe received her star. Aniston,43, rose to fame in the role ofRachel Green in the hit 1990ssitcom ‘Friends,’ for which shewon a Golden Globe andEmmy award. Her ‘Friends’co-stars were not present at

the ceremony. After ‘Friends’ended in 2004, Aniston madea successful transition intofilms, with the critically-ac-claimed ‘The Good Girl,’ ‘De-railed’ and numerouscomedies including ‘TheBreak-Up,’ ‘The Switch’ and‘Horrible Bosses.’ The actresswill next be seen in comedy‘Wanderlust’ with Paul Rudd,Malin Akerman and Theroux.

mUmbAi: At last he gets hisfreedom. Amitabh bachchan hadtweeted last night that he waseagerly waiting for his “freedom fromhospital”. And his wish has finallybeen granted. After two abdominalsurgeries and 12 long days at theSeven Hills Hospital, the superstarreturned home Thursday evening.The hospital authorities issued anofficial statement stating that theactor would be discharged by 7pm.On february 11, big b had undergonesurgery for bilateral inguinal hernia, acondition caused by protrusion oftissues through the abdominal wall.The actor, who is avid blogger, hadkept his fans updated about hismedical condition all throughout hisstay at the hospital via his blog andmicro blogging site Twitter. The actortweeted last night that his conditionwas improving and wrote, “The bodyis now free from all ‘kites’ and wiresand soon shall be free from thishospital as well(sic).” AgENCiES

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:32 AM Page 15

Friday, 24 February, 2012

16 Foreign News

BUEnoS AIRESAfP

Desperate families were searching forloved ones Thursday after a massivetrain crash in Buenos Aires killed 50people, injured nearly 700 and leftdozens trapped for hours in the wreck-age.

Rescuers spent much of the dayprying people from the wreckage afterthe packed train slammed into a wall ata major railway terminus Wednesdaymorning, sending cars crashing intoeach other and crushing the passengersinside. “The train was full and the im-pact was tremendous,” a passengeridentified only as Ezequiel told localtelevision, adding that medics at thescene appeared overwhelmed by thescale of the disaster.

Officials late Wednesday raised the

death toll to 50, including one child.Civil defense officials earlier said thatat least 675 people had been hurt in thecrash, 200 of them seriously.

Families of missing passengers des-perately searched hospitals, the morgueand a public cemetery where dozens ofbodies were taken. Authorities handedout lists of hundreds of the injured, butthe identities of many of the deceasedand wounded remained unknown.

“I was in five hospitals and I could-n’t find my wife,” said a man who gavehis name as Jose and said his pregnantwife had been in one of the first cars.

“They told us there are peoplebeing operated on and they don’t knowwho they are. There’s no way to knowuntil they come out of surgery,” saidLuisa, looking for her 24-year-old son.

TV channels broadcast photo-graphs of missing people as social net-

works filled with messages from peoplesearching for information. Witnessessaid the train’s brakes failed as it wasarriving at the Once station on thewestern outskirts of Argentina’s capital.

Survivors described a scene ofpanic, with Medevac helicopters andambulances racing in and out of the sta-tion to ferry the wounded to hospitals.“There were people who were crushedand shouting desperately. I saw bodiesand blood all over the place,” said pas-senger Alejandro Velazquez.

Firefighters and rescue workershad to break through skylights in thetrain’s roofs to reach dozens of peoplewho were trapped in the twisted wreck-age of the first and second carriages.The government called for two days ofmourning and suspended Carnival cel-ebrations, including a massive paradeplanned in Buenos Aires on Friday.

kABULAfP

AN Afghan soldier shot deadtwo NATO troops onThursday as violent anti-US protests over the burn-ing of copies of the Quran

swept the country for a third day.French, Norwegian and US bases

were also attacked by protesters at ral-lies killing three people, taking the two-day toll to 12, officials said.

The attacks came after the Talibanurged Afghans to kill foreign troops toavenge the burning of Qurans at a US-run base, although the militia stoppedshort of cutting off contacts with Amer-ican officials in Qatar over the crisis.

Afghanistan is a deeply religiouscountry where slights against Islamhave frequently provoked violentprotests, and many Afghans are in-censed at the discovery of charredQurans at the US-run Bagram airbasenorth of Kabul.

NATO’s US-led International Secu-rity Assistance Force (ISAF) said two ofits service members were killed in eastern

Afghanistan by “an individual wearing anAfghan National Army uniform” whoturned his weapon against the troops.

ISAF did not identify the nationali-ties of the victims and gave no furtherdetails. Asked whether the shooting wasconnected to anti-American protests, anISAF spokesman said only: “There was a

demonstration in the province.” Afghantroops defending a foreign base in east-ern Nangarhar province “joined demon-strators and opened fire on foreigntroops”, the Afghan Islamic Press newsagency quoted one protester as saying.

In Mihtarlam, the capital of Lagh-man province east of Kabul, thousands

besieged the base of a US-led military-civilian provincial reconstruction team(PRT), throwing rocks and climbing upthe outer walls, police said.

“People had come from all overLaghman. They attacked the PRT, theyclimbed up the walls, they set fire tosomething there, I think a container,”police official Khalilul Rahman Niazitold AFP. Niazi said he believed twopeople were wounded by gunfire fromthe base as they stormed the walls andhurled rocks under a pall of thick blacksmoke. About 2,000 protesters alsotried to march on the French base inKapisa, east of Kabul, but were pushedback by Afghan security forces, re-gional police chief General AbdulHameed Erken told AFP. “Two protes-tors were slightly wounded after secu-rity forces opened fire on them,” he said.

And in northern Faryab province,there was an attempt to march on a Nor-wegian military base, said police chiefAbdul Kahleq Aqsayee. “A group ofsome 100 teenagers marched toward thebase of Norwegian forces on the out-skirts of the city, throwing rocks andsetting fire to vehicles.

Afghan soldier kills NATOtroops amid violent protests

Argentina reels after 50 killed in train crash

KAbUL : Afghan policemen walk past a wounded demonstrator during a protest against quran desecration in Kabul on Thursday. Afp

obama expresses ‘deep regret’

over Quran burningKABUl: US President Barack Obama sent Afghan President Hamid Karzai a let-ter of apology over the burning of copies of the Quran overseen by a US officer ata US military base, Karzai’s office said Thursday. Obama said the incident wasunintentional and pledged a full investigation, the president’s office said, as fierceanti-US protests swept the nation in which at least 14 people have died, includingtwo American soldiers. “I wish to express my deep regret for the reported inci-dent,” Obama wrote in the letter presented to Karzai by US ambassador RyanCrocker. “I extend to you and the Afghan people my sincere apologies.” “The errorwas inadvertent; I assure you that we will take the appropriate steps to avoid anyrecurrence, to include holding accountable those responsible,” the letter said.Karzai told members of parliament that a US officer was responsible for the burn-ing that was done “out of ignorance”, his office said. AfP

thousands besiegeUS base overquran burning

kABULAfP

Thousands of furious Afghans besieged aUS base on Thursday, throwing rocks andclimbing up the outer walls on the thirdday of violent protests against Koranburnings that have killed at least 12 peo-ple. Just hours earlier, the Taliban ex-horted Afghans to attack and kill foreigntroops to avenge the burning of Korans ata US-run base, but stopped short of cut-ting off contacts with American officialsin Qatar over the crisis.Afghanistan is a deeply religious countrywhere slights against Islam have fre-quently provoked violent protests, andmany Afghans are incensed at the discov-ery of charred Korans at the US-runBagram airbase north of Kabul.Thousands of demonstrators besieged thebase of a US-led military-civilian provin-cial reconstruction team (PRT) in Mihtar-lam, the capital of Laghman province eastof Kabul, senior police official KhalilulRahman Niazi told AFP.“People had come from all over Laghman.They attacked the PRT, they climbed upthe walls, they set fire to something there,I think a container,” he said.Niazi said he believed two people werewounded by gunfire from the base as theystormed the walls and hurled rocks undera pall of thick black smoke. Officials saidat least three people were killed by gun-fire at demonstrations in the south andeast of the country Thursday, bringing thetotal death toll to 12 since Wednesday.Pouncing on the opportunity to fan anti-US fires, the Taliban militia urgedAfghans to “not stop” at merely protest-ing. The Islamist movement has beenleading a 10-year insurgency againstbeing toppled in the 2001 US-led inva-sion. “You should bring the invadingforces’ military bases under your braveattack, their military convoys, kill them,capture them, beat them and teach thema lesson that they will never again dare toinsult the Holy Koran,” it said. Yet themilitia’s main spokesman, Zabiullah Mu-jahid, told AFP late Wednesday that theKoran burning would not affect contactswith US officials in Qatar, designed tobuild confidence and pave the way for aprisoner exchange. “We condemn the des-ecration of the Holy Koran in thestrongest terms, but this issue will not af-fect this process in Qatar,” he said.Afghan President Hamid Karzai called forcalm as the Koran incident is investigatedby the US-led NATO force, and orderedhis own security forces to avoid violenceand protect people’s lives and property.But demonstrations flared Thursday inthe capital Kabul, Jalalabad and Kunar inthe east, the northern provinces of Takharand Baghlan, Faryab in the northeast andUruzgan in the south. “These foreignersare always repeating their desecratingacts, and only apologise over the inci-dent,” said Mohammad Islam, a 25-year-old demonstrator in the southeasternKabul suburb of Bagrami. “They shouldprosecute those who were involved overthe incident, to be a lesson for others notto commit such crimes in the future.”

bUENOS AiRES: Police and rescue workers surround a train that crashed at Once trainstation on Wednesday, killing at least 50 people. Afp

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:32 AM Page 16

Foreign News 17Friday, 24 February, 2012

DAMASCUS AfP

SYRIAN forces launched amassive bombardment ofrebel districts of Homs onThursday, defying a worldoutcry over the killing of two

Western journalists and a citizen re-porter who were among the few to bearwitness of the civilian toll.

Activists spoke of “terrifying explo-sions” as encircling regime troopspounded the central city for a 20thstraight day.

The UN Human Rights Council saidit had a list of Syrian officials suspectedof crimes against humanity after an in-quiry found that that the governmenthad “manifestly failed” in its duty to

protect its own people.But a defiant foreign ministry re-

jected all responsibility for the deathsof veteran American reporter MarieColvin and French photojournalistRemi Ochlik, insisting that they hadentered the country illegally and attheir own risk.

The dawn bombardment of Homs— Syria’s third-largest city — centredon the Baba Amr neighbourhood,where the two journalists were killed, ahuman rights watchdog said.

“Baba Amr, as well as parts of In-shaat, have been shelled since 7:00 am(0500 GMT), while mortar roundsslammed into the Khaldiyeh neighbour-hood,” the head of the Syrian Observa-tory for Human Rights, Rami AbdelRahman, told AFP.

Activist Hadi Abdullah told AFPfrom inside the city: “We hear terri-fying explosions.”

He said the world outcry over thedeaths of the journalists and 24 Syriancivilians in Homs on Wednesday ap-peared only to have strengthened theregime’s determination to eliminate allopposition in the city.

“The more the condemnationspile on, the heavier the bombing be-comes,” he said.

Abdullah said there was evidencethat the makeshift media centre wherethe journalists were killed and two oth-ers wounded was deliberately targetedby regime forces.

“We are sure that the centre was tar-geted, because 11 rockets struck in andaround it,” he said.

“The regime forces intercepted atransmission signal.”

The Syrian government made no de-nial that its forces had fired the lethalrounds but said that the journalists hadbeen in the country at their own risk.

“We reject statements holding Syriaresponsible for the deaths of journalistswho sneaked into its territory at theirown risk,” said a foreign ministry state-ment read out on state television.

The ministry urged journalists to“respect laws of journalistic work inSyria and avoid breaking the law by en-tering the country illegally to reach trou-ble-hit areas that are unsafe.”

French newspaper Le Figaro saidone of its reporters, Edith Bouvier, waswounded in the legs in the shelling ofthe press centre.

Syria forces launch ‘terrifying’ bombardment of Homs clinton saysSomalia is at a‘critical’ point

LonDonAfP

Somalia is at a critical point and mustseize this moment to establish a stablegovernment, US Secretary of State HillaryClinton told a major conference on theHorn of Africa nation on Thursday.She said the United States would pushfor sanctions, including travel bans andasset freezes, for those “standing in theway” of progress, and would also seek tokeep up the pressure on the Shebab Is-lamist group. But Clinton also promisedsupport, pledging an extra $64 million inhumanitarian assistance to the region tohelp improve the lives of ordinary Soma-lis, blighted by famine and civil war forthe past 21 years. “For decades, the worldhas focused on what we could preventfrom happening in Somalia — be it con-flict, famine, or other disasters. Now weare focused on what we can build. Theopportunity is real,” she said.Speaking at the start of the London con-ference gathering Somali leaders plusrepresentatives from around 50 countriesand organisations, Clinton said: “We havecome together at a critical halfway point.”She said the international communitywould not extend the mandate of thetransitional government (TFG) beyondAugust, saying: “It is past time for thattransition to occur, and for Somalia tohave a stable government.”She acknowledged that the work requiredbefore that date, including convening anassembly to approve a constitution, forma new parliament and elect a presidentand speaker, were “ambitious”.“But the people of Somalia have waitedfor many years. They have heard manypromises, and have seen many deadlinescome and go,” she said.“It’s time to buckle down and do the workthat will bring stability to Somalia for thefirst time in many of its people’s lives.”She said anyone trying to obstructprogress “will not be tolerated”.“We will encourage the internationalcommunity to impose further sanctions —including travel bans and asset freezes —on people inside and outside the TFG whoseek to undermine Somalia’s peace andsecurity,” she said. “If you are standing inthe way, you should be held accountable.”Clinton said the Shebab movement was“weakening” but said the internationalcommunity “must keep up the pressure”,welcoming the United Nations’ decisionon Wednesday to boost peacekeepingforces as “a good step”. She also addressedthe problem of pirates who attacked inter-national ships off the coast of Somalia,urging more countries to offer to prose-cute and jail those arrested in the absenceof a judicial system in Somalia itself.

myANmAR: A fire engulfs huts in the Um-Piam refugee camp for refugees in Thailand's Tak Province which houses more than 15,000 burmese refugees who fled the fighting betweenethnic minority groups and the myanmar government. REUTERS

MoSCoWAfP

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin onThursday issued a battle-cry to tens ofthousands of supporters packingMoscow’s largest sports stadium as hepredicted victory in next month’s presi-dential election.

Putin declared in a fiery and nation-alist-tinged speech to 130,000 people inthe Luzhniki stadium that Russians hadvictory written into their “genetic code”and would not allow foreigners to meddlein their country’s affairs.

Playing on themes of patriotism on anational holiday to mark the Defendersof the Fatherland public holiday, Putininvoked historical events like the 1812Battle of Borodino that Russia foughtagainst Napoleon.

“The battle for Russia continues, thevictory will be ours,” Putin said, speakingfrom a giant blue stage in a stadium thatusually hosts the biggest football matchesand rock concerts.

“We will not allow anyone to imposetheir will on us. We have our own will andthis has always helped us be victorious,”said Putin. “We are a victorious nation.This is in our genes. This is in our genetic

code.” The event is a riposte to the massrallies staged by the opposition since De-cember 4 parliamentary elections whichhave turned into a protest movementagainst his bid for a third Kremlin termin March 4 presidential polls.

“We will be victorious,” said Putin.He then turned to the crowd and asked:“And I want to ask you. Will we be victo-rious?” The tens of thousands in thecrowd roared back: “Yes!”

The rally coincided with Russia’s an-nual Defenders of the Fatherland publicholiday, a militaristic celebration that inSoviet times commemorated the achieve-ments of the Red Army.

“We call on everyone to unitearound our country, those who see Rus-sia as their own motherland, who areready to protect her, cherish her andbelieve in her,” said Putin. Just beforethe strongman prime minister’s arrivala festive atmosphere filled the giantvenue, with some participants dancingand others holding red heart-shapedballoons reading “For Putin.”

Pancakes were served for thosewishing to bid farewell to Russia’s longgloomy winter as part of ongoing Pan-cake Week traditionally celebrated inthe country.

“We came because it is a holiday andalso because we support the candidate,”said 29-year old Svetlana Filakova, as shestood in line for a serving of porridge.

Claims have multiplied ahead of therally that employees of state companieswere ordered to attend the pro-Putinmeeting, with blue-collar workers beingbrought to Moscow by train or bus fromacross Russia.

Some participants admitted they hadno choice but to show up.

“It’s my birthday and they draggedme here,” said Vladimir puffing on a cig-arette. “The people came here not volun-tarily but were forced,” he said decliningto give his last name for fear of reprisals.

“At work they said ‘Go along. Youjust try not going’. Tomorrow we aregiven a holiday.”

Putin’s campaign chief Stanislav Gov-orukhin denied that anyone was beingforced to take part in the event.

“We are not rounding up anyone,we are inviting everyone,” he toldRussian reporters.

The opposition says that Putin’s onceimpregnable popularity is plummetingamid the protests, although his mindersinsist the Russian strongman still enjoysthe majority’s support.

Putin issues ‘victory’ battle cry ahead of Russia polls

mOSCOW: Supporters of the Russian Communist Party carry red flags and banners as

they attend a rally on Thursday. Afp

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Page 21

Friday, 24 February, 2012

Jankovic upsets Stosur,into Dubai last four

nEW DELHIAfP

iNDIA'S cricket greats have beguntalking about a topic that wasconsidered unthinkable a yearago -- Sachin Tendulkar's retire-ment from the sport. Or, at least,

the need for the record-breaking batsmanto quit one-day international cricket to pro-long his Test career. The debate has inten-sified after Tendulkar's contemporary RickyPonting was forced by Australia's selectorsto bow out of ODIs this week. Ponting re-tired from the shorter format after beingdumped from the ongoing tri-series, butvowed to fight on in the Test side. Somewant the Indian selectors to be just as ruth-less and end Tendulkar's one-day career.

The Hindustan Times, discussingPonting's axeing, hoped that Indian cricketchiefs would learn from the "no-nonsenseapproach" shown by the Australian man-agement. "Indian cricket set-up needs totake a cue from its Australian counterpartswhen it comes to pushing the seniors out,"the paper wrote. "If they have to take atough call looking at the future of the team,the time is now." Former World Cup-win-ning captain Kapil Dev agrees that it is timeto ponder hard choices for Tendulkar, de-spite the adulation the "Little Master" stillcommands across India. "Maybe his timehas come," Kapil said on the HeadlinesToday news channel. "Every player has histime. Age is not on his side as it was ear-lier." Tendulkar, who turns 39 in April, isnot only the world's leading batsman in

both the Test and one-day formats, but alsothe longest-serving international cricketer,having made his debut in 1989.

Fans have been left on tenterhooks asTendulkar, who has scored a record 51 Testand 48 one-day centuries, struggles toreach the unprecedented milestone of 100international hundreds. His form hasturned indifferent in the tri-series in Aus-tralia, where he has managed just 90 runsin five games at an average of 18. Former

captain Sourav Ganguly, who played along-side Tendulkar from 1992 to 2008, said hisold teammate's decision to pick and chooseone-day matches was costing India dear."Sachin has to ask himself whether it'shelping him as a one-day player or if it'shelping the Indian team," Ganguly toldHeadlines Today. "If Sachin can't get ananswer to these questions, he has to go."Tendulkar, who has played a record 458one-day internationals, has turned out in

just 18 ODI matches in the past two years,including nine in India's triumphant WorldCup campaign in February-April 2011.

He still managed to record the first dou-ble-century in ODIs -- 200 not out againstSouth Africa in February 2010 -- and wasthe star in India's World Cup win with 482runs, second only to Sri Lankan TillakaratneDilshan's 500. Ganguly dismissed battinglegend Sunil Gavaskar's suggestion that theselectors should talk to Tendulkar about hisone-day future. "I don't see any of the selec-tors stepping in," Ganguly said. "They arenot going to stand in front of Sachin Ten-dulkar and say 'Listen little champ, youneed to go'. That is never going to happen."But the Hindu newspaper urged formerplayers to lay off Tendulkar, saying the de-cision to quit or not should be left to him."A lot has been said -- especially by formersportspersons who themselves stayed onwell beyond their use-by date -- about Ten-dulkar's ODI career," it said.

"Whatever the intentions, these gemsof seemingly timely advice are clearly un-called for. Sachin has served the countrywith exceptional pride and genius for fartoo long and he deserves the right tochoose his own time of departure." A pollpublished by the Times of India on Thurs-day said that 57 percent of 47,000 respon-dents wanted Tendulkar to quit one-daycricket and 41 percent urged him to con-tinue. In the immediate future, Tendulkarhas two opportunities to silence his critics-- against Australia on Sunday and SriLanka next Tuesday -- plus a possible best-of-three-finals, should India qualify.

Tendulkar’s one-dayfuture hangs in balance

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

A British passport helped Azhar Mah-mood get into the Indian Premier Leaguethis year and now the former Pakistaniall-rounder is keen to see that the playersfrom his native land are not denied thechance to play in the Twenty20 league forlong. Pakistani cricketers have not playedin the league since featuring in the inau-gural edition in 2008 due to straineddiplomatic relations between the twocountries in the wake of Mumbai terrorattack. IPL Franchisees have avoidedpicking Pakistani players since then andMahmood was selected this year since he

is now a UK citizen. Mahmood urged theBCCI and PCB to sort out all the issues topave the way for the participation Pak-istani cricketers in the highly popularleague. Mahmood will feature in the fifthedition of the league for Kings XI Punjab.

Mahmood, who last played for Pak-istan in 2007 cricket World Cup, believesthat his participation in the IPL may con-tribute in normalising the strained rela-tions between the two nations. "I wouldlike to see Pakistani players participatingin the IPL. The BCCI and the PCB shouldsit together and sort out the issue. Thereis no problem in picking the Pakistaniplayers as they would like to participatein a tournament like IPL," PTI quoted

Mahmood as saying. "I believe that myplaying for the Kings XI Punjab teamwould lead to IPL franchises situp andtake notice of Pakistani cricketers as thatwould help in normalisation and re-sumption of bilateral ties. Don`t denythem the chance to play in the IPL," headded. Rejected last year from being puton sale by the IPL Governing Council,Mahmood said, "I don`t know why ittook me so long to qualify for the IPLauction. I have no idea what happenedlast year. This year, I got listed as aBritish player and picked by Kings XIteam. May be there were some doubts inthe minds of franchises," he said.

Mahmood, who joined Englishcounty team Kent in 2010, has beenconsistently doing well in the Englishconditions and believe that his experi-ence of playing there would hold him ingood stead in the IPL-V. "My county ex-perience will definitely help me in theIPL. I have been playing county cricketfor past seven years and now I am alsopart of the Bangladesh Premier League,so I will bring all my experience and tal-ent into play while turning up for KingsXI Punjab.” "I am very excited about it.It feels really great to be associated witha tournament like IPL as it is thebiggest tournament after internationalcricket. I always wanted to feature inthe League," he said. Mahmood, whohas more than 2000 runs in the T20format, also plays for Auckland Aces inNew Zealand and considers his match-winnng knock of 44 in his team`s 44-run victory over Canterburry in theHRV cup final as one of the specialknocks of his career.

"I had a great Twenty20 season bothin England and New Zealand. We wonthe HRV cup finals where I performedvery well. I am confident of doing well inIPL too," he said. Mahmood played forSurrey before joining Kent in 2007.

collingwood flops

as cobras go top

JoHAnnESBURgAfP

Former England one-day internationalskipper Paul Collingwood flopped with thebat again as newcomers The New Age Impisuffered a 40-run loss to leaders WesternCape Cobras Wednesday in the SouthAfrican T20 Challenge. Dismissed for fouron his debut last Friday, Collingwood hitjust one run from three balls before beingcaught by South Africa wicketkeeper MarkBoucher off the bowling of Dane Piedt atBoland Park in Paarl. Fellow EnglishmanLuke Wright (15) fared best among the Impi'imports' with Ryan ten Doeschate from theNetherlands sharing a similar fate toCollingwood -- out for one after beingtrapped leg before by Alistair Gray. Colling-wood (0-14), Wright (0-31) and AustralianBen Edmondson (0-40) had no joy with theball either and the Impi star was openerKhayelihle Zondo with an unbeaten 100 off63 deliveries. But his ton was in vain as theImpi never looked like overtaking the Co-bras, who posted a formidable 211-4 withDane Vilas (57), Stiaan van Zyl (55) and un-defeated Vernon Philander (45) leading therun charge. Impi, bankrolled by Johannes-burg newspaper The New Age, coached byformer South Africa assistant VincentBarnes and captained by Collingwood,made 171-6 in reply as they suffered a thirdstraight loss within six days.

PcB looks forqualified persons atdifferent positions?

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

The Pakistan Cricket Board has startedlooking for qualified persons to fill in anumber of positions after the team’sbashing in the one-day series at thehands of England in the UAE. The PCB, which was already in hunt for abowling coach after Aaqib Javed resignedto join the UAE, will opt for a number ochanges in the selection committee andteam management and the likely chancesare that some more heads would roll inthe PCB set-up too. PCB tried its utmost to keep Aaqib in thesupport staff of Dave Whatmore but theformer fast bowler had informed the PCBregarding his new contract with UAEcricket.Certain reports suggested former testcricketer Saleem Jaffer is trying his bestto fill the void created by Aaqib butthings would get clear shape one What-more join the team next month. On the other hand, there might be newfaces to replace the whole of the selectioncommittee following the team’s poorshowing in the ODI series against Eng-land. England blanked Pakistan 4-0 in theone-day series, following a historicwhitewash of Andrew Struss men in thetest rubber.Reports suggested that Pakistan CricketBoard Chairman Zaka Ashraf wants anew selection committee to select thesquad for the upcoming Asia Cup, whichwould be held in March 2012 inBangladesh.For the job former chief selectorSalahuddin Sallu is using his sources tobecome the head of the selection com-mittee while Mohsin Khan, who has beennamed as an interim coach might be con-sidered provided he was not given the as-signment as head of the Karachi CricketAcademy. The PCB chief had alreadyhinted at change in the setup of theboard after the England series.The PCB has already brought in formerID Police Tariq Pervaiz as director secu-rity and vigilance and Sajid Hameed asdirector coordination. Reports furthersaid that an evaluation committee of thePCB is already assessing the performanceof the officials working in the board andon bad day in the office might bring innew face in the PCB.

Stirling starswith bat andball for Ireland

MoMBASAAfP

Paul Stirling starred with both the batand ball as Ireland beat Kenya by eightwickets in the second Twenty20 inter-national match at the Mombasa SportsClub grounds on Thursday. The 21-year-old Middlesex player tooktwo wickets in the Kenyan top orderand pretty much single-handedly wonthe game for his team with his unbeaten65 to give the hosts their second crush-ing defeat in the three-match series.Spinner George Dockrell and pacemenTrent Johnston, John Mooney andKevin O'Brien had each grabbed onewicket apiece as Kenya reached 131 forseven after being put in to bat.The Irish victory served as a morale boostin their preparations for next month'sTwenty20 World Cup qualifying tourna-ment in the United Arab Emirates.The third and final match in the serieswill be played on Friday.Scores: Kenya 131-7 (D Obuya 28, RPatel 27, P Stirling 2-21); Ireland 132-2(17.3 overs) (P Stirling 65 not out, WPorterfield 23, G Wilson 22, Aga 1-10, HVaraiya 1-27).

Mahmood keen to seepakistani players in IpL

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:33 AM Page 18

DUBAIAfP

pACEMAN Umar Gul took 3-18 to inspire Pakistan to athrilling eight-run win in thefirst of three Twenty20 inter-

nationals against England at Dubai Sta-dium on Thursday. England, the reigningTwenty20 world champions, were cruis-ing at 120-4 after 17 overs, chasing 145 towin, but Gul took two wickets in the 18thover for just three runs to change thecomplexion of the game, eventually re-stricting England to 136-6.

Graeme Swann rocked the middle-order with a burst of three wickets offeight balls to restrict Pakistan, put intobat, to 144-6 with Shoaib Malik making39. Ravi Bopara (39) and Jonny Bairstow(22 not out) had added 33 for the fourth

wicket but Gul dismissed Bopara with thefifth ball of the 16th over and then hadJos Butler (three) and Samit Patel(nought) in the next to bring Pakistancloser to victory. With 18 needed off thefinal over bowled by Junaid Khan, Eng-land managed just nine. England wereset on the chase by Kevin Pietersen (33)as they reached 48 by the sixth over butPakistan came back when Shahid Afrididismissed the in-form Pietersen.Pietersen, who made back-to-back hun-dreds in England's 4-0 win in the preced-ing one-day series, holed out to Shafiq.

Off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez, whofinished with 2-18, chipped in with thewickets of Craig Kieswetter (14) and dan-gerous looking Eoin Morgan (14) to leaveEngland at 80-3, a position from wherethey should have won but Gul's spiritedbowling made the difference. Pakistan too

made a flying start with debutant AwaisZia hitting a four and six during his 12-ball18 but Pakistan lost four wickets in thespace of eight runs as Asad Shafiq (19) fellrun out, Mohammad Hafeez (23), ShahidAfridi (seven) and Umar Akmal (nought)followed each other, with Swann takingthe last three. It was left to captain Mis-bah-ul Haq (26 not out) and Malik (39) toput on 71 for the sixth wicket to take Pak-istan to a respectable total. Malik hit fourboundaries and six off 33 balls before hefell to a superb catch by Bairstow off JadeDernbach off the last ball of the innings.

Misbah gave Malik good support dur-ing his run-a-ball innings, hitting one fourand a six. Swann finished with 3-13. Pak-istan brought in Zia and allrounder Ham-mad Azam while Bopara and Swannreturned for England after missing thefourth one-dayer due to fitness problems.

PAKiSTAN

mohammad Hafeez c bairstow b Swann 23

Awais zia c broad b finn 18

Asad Shafiq run out 19

Shahid Afridi c morgan b Swann 7

misbah-ul Haq not out 26

Umar Akmal c Dernbach b Swann 0

Shoaib malik c bairstow b Dernbach 39

EXTRAS: (lb11, w1) 12

TOTAL: (for six wickets) 144

fall of wickets: 1-32 (zia), 2-65 (Shafiq), 3-65 (Hafeez), 4-

73 (Afridi), 5-73 (Umar).

bOWLiNg: finn 4-0-39-1 (w1), Dernbach 4-0-31-1, broad 4-

0-19-0, Swann 4-1-13-3, bopara 1-0-8-0, Patel 3-0-23-0

ENgLAND

K. Pietersen c Shafiq b Afridi 33

C. Kieswetter b Hafeez 14

R. bopara b gul 39

E. morgan b Hafeez 14

J. bairstow not out 22

J. butler c Ajmal b gul 3

S. Patel lbw b gul 0

g. Swann not out 2

EXTRAS: (b1, lb4, w4) 9

TOTAL: (for six wickets) 136

fall of wickets: 1-48 (Pietersen), 2-51 (Kieswetter), 3-80

(morgan), 4-113 (bopara), 5-121 (butler), 6-121 (Patel).

bOWLiNg: Khan 4-0-42-0, gul 4-1-18-3, Ajmal 4-0-26-0

(w2), Afridi 4-0-27-1, Hafeez 4-0-18-2 (w2),

Overs: 20

Result: Pakistan won by eight runs

Toss: England

Umpires: Ahsan Raza (PAK) and Shozab Raza (PAK)

Tv umpire: zameer Haider (PAK)

match referee: Jeff Crowe (NzL).

SCOREbOARD

Sports 19Friday, 24 February, 2012

MARAnAAfP

Top-ranked defending champion LukeDonald was hammered by Ernie Els onWednesday while Tiger Woods had a nar-row first-round escape at the World GolfChampionships Match Play Champi-onship. South Africa's Els dumped theEnglishman 5-and-4, only the third time inevent history the top seed has been oustedin the opening round. Els won five of sevenholes from the eighth to close out thematch on the 14th hole.

"I was trying to just take it as a firstround match," Els said. "There's alwayshype when the No. 1 player is playing withthe No. 64 seed but I think Luke and I tookit for what it was. "Obviously I can play alittle bit of golf so I'm sure he didn't reallywant to face me. But that's the way itworked out. I played well. Luke had a bit of

an off day and I'm obviously very pleasedto go through." Former World No. 1 Woodssurvived a scare before progressingthrough to the second day at the $8.5 mil-lion event. Despite losing the opening twoholes, Woods clawed his way back againstunheralded Spanish World No. 48 GonzaloFernandez-Castano to win 1-up and set upa second-round match with fellow Ameri-can Nick Watney.

Donald was left to lament one of hispoorer days out on the golf course. His fourbogeys left him hung out to dry.

The result also means he could lose hisstatus as World No. 1 should No. 2 RoryMcIlroy of Northern Ireland or No. 3 LeeWestwood of England go deep into theevent. Both had reasonably comfortablefirst round victories. "It's disappointing,"Donald said. "To lose control of the golf balllike I did today is really frustrating. "I don'tthink it would have mattered who I played

today. I gave away too many holes andmade too many mistakes. You can't do thatin match play against anyone, let aloneErnie." McIlroy didn't hold back whenasked about the chance to arrest the topspot in the world after his 2-up win overSouth African George Coetzee.

"To be honest, I came in here yesterdayand talked about if I play well and just winmatches that will take care of itself," hesaid. "But obviously it's another incentivewaking up each morning and knowing thatif you win your match at the end of theweek you could be World No. 1.

"We'll see what happens. I have to getthrough a lot of matches before that, but itdefinitely gives me an added incentive thisweek." Facing a potential first-round elim-ination at the event for just the third timein his career, Woods won two of the lastfour holes and made a clutch up and downfrom a bunker on the 18th to seal the vic-

tory. "I don't think either one of us had ourbest stuff today," Woods said. "We bothmade our share of mistakes. There's nodoubt about that. But somehow I was ableto move on." Fernando-Castano was left torue a great chance at victory.

"If there was one day to beat TigerWoods, this was it," he lamented. "I didn'ttake the opportunity." Top seeds in theother brackets moved on without muchhassle. Westwood had no trouble dismiss-ing Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts 3-and-1and Germany's Martin Kaymer had an eas-ier day out against Australian GregChalmers, triumphing 4-and-2.

Japanese superstar Ryo Ishikawapulled off a miraculous comeback to upsetlast week's US PGA winner, Bill Haas.Ishikawa, seeded 54th, was three downwith five holes to play but won four of thefinal five holes, three with birdies, to takeout the 11th seeded Haas 1-up.

Els ousts Donald, Tiger fights on at WGC Match-Play

SIngAPoREAfP

American Angela Stanford posted a six-under 66 to grab the first-round leadThursday at the $1.4-million HSBCWomen's Champions tournament in Sin-gapore. Japan's Momoko Ueda was twoshots adrift at four-under 68 and tied forsecond place alongside four South Koreansincluding Choi Na Yeon who topped theLPGA Tour money list in 2010.

Tournament favorite and world num-ber one Yani Tseng, who is bidding for afirst Singapore win, was tied 20th with aone-under 71 after a string of missedbirdie opportunities and costly bogeys atthe fourth and tenth holes. Stanford'sbogey-free round was just one shot shy of

equalling a tournament record of 65, setin the second round by former greatLorena Ochoa in 2008 who went on towin the title that year. The Texan madethe most of her chances and even man-aged a birdie putt at the ninth hole de-spite having topped the ball on hersecond shot using a three-wood.

"Well, the second shot was not a desir-able outcome. Nobody likes a three-wood,"Stanford said with a laugh. "I can honestlytell you, I've never topped a shot and madebirdie on the same hole," she said.

Former champion Ai Miyazato ofJapan, who is bidding for her second Sin-gapore title to add to her 2010 triumph,was three shots behind the clubhouseleader after carding a three-under 69.

"I had a good comeback," Miyazato

said of her performance in the back ninewhere she birdied the last four holes topartly make up for two bogeys. "The golfcourse is always in good shape. It's

pretty difficult but it's kind of challeng-ing me, so really nice." Tseng said herone-under finish was "not bad" despitemissing several birdie chances.

Stanford grabs first-round lead in Singapore Royal PalmFloodlit cricketin semis stage

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

The semi-final stage has approached inthe Floodlit Cricket Tournament inprogress at the Royal Palm Golf Club, dulysupported by Wing Chair, FR Cables andCoke, after three days of intense competi-tive activity which included all the ingredi-ents that are normally associated with thiswonderful game.Ample were the close finishes, the fieldingadmirable with no missed catches, re-markable was the bowling and more thanplentiful was some huge hitting that woninstant applause from the large number offamilies present, in particular the ladieswho seemed to be well aware of the finerpoints of the game.The most exciting quarter-final was be-tween Royal Vikings and Wing ChairKings, a match that Royal Vikings won al-though the losing teams Mansoor Hamzaearned accolades for his excellent bowlingby doing a double hat trick. Mansoor is amedium pacer who can bowl the risingball with a lot of venom and the fearsomeeffect prevented a contact between the batand the ball although the batsmen wereskilled enough.However the disturbing aspect from hispoint of view was that he was called in tobowl the last over and prior to that the op-ponent team had scored enough runs tosee them through to the next round.In the other quarterfinals, Indus Warriorsbeat Indus Chargers by 39 runs, thanks tosome stunning hitting by MuhammedAsad who hit six sixes delighting thepacked gallery. Lahore Lions, a strong out-fit crushed Lahore Bashers, winning by 5wickets and Punjab Stunners beat RoyalTitans by 12 runs. The semi-finals will be a contest of sea-soned ones between Indus Warriors andPunjab Stunners and Royal Vikings versusLahore Lions. The winning team of thechampionship will win a lucratve cashprize of Rs 150,000.

Gul, Malik guide Pakistanhome in T20 opener

Amar cables beatGolden eagles

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

Amar Cables beat Golden Eagles by 19 runsin the First Lahore Veteran Cricket Cham-pion Trophy while SPM Bucks beat GulbergGymkhana by one run at the Ali Garh andModel Greens Cricket Grounds. SCORES: Amar cables batting first 207/7 after 30 overs.Amer Ilyas Butt played well and hammered 60, DastgeerButt 30, Muhammad Hafeez 60 and Muhammad Arif 19runs not out. Rana Bilal 3/39, naveed Sufi 1/46, AkramRaza 1/42 & Basharat Ali 1/24 wickets. In reply Golden ea-gles 188/7 after 30 overs. Muhammad Zahid 74, AsifMehmood 34 & tariq qureshi 17 runs. Amar cables bowl-ing tariq Rasheed 3/43, Muhammad Hafeez 2/34 &Shokat Ali 1/34 wickets. nadeem Ghori, Muhammad Asifumpire and Masood Ahmad was the scorer. later chiefGuest Former test cricketer Saleem elahi gave away theman of the match award to Muhammad Hafeez. AmerIlyas Butt, Salman Khan was also present on the occasion.In the second match, SPM batting first 222/8 after 30overs. Ashfaq Aslam 61, toseef Mughal 43, nadeem Aslam41 and Sohail Imran 20 runs not out. Manzoor elahi 3/34,Faisal Mehmood, Azhar Hussain, Shahzad Bhatti, nazarHussain and Afzal Munir one wicket each. In reply GulbergGymkhana 221/6 after 30 overs. Rana Shahid played well104, Afzal Munir 31 and Manzoor Ilahi 27 runs. MuhammadShahbaz 4/34 & Ashfaq Aslam 2/30 wickets. MuhammadHaneef, Sagheer Ahmad umpire & Zahoor Alam was thescorer. Ashfaq Aslam declared man of the match.

Prince club beattauseef club by 20 runs

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

Prince club won the LCCA cricket leaguematch against Tauseef club by 20 runs playedat Ittefaq hospital ground on Wednesday.SCORES: Prince club 254/6 in 40 overs. Fahad ul Haq 118,Mubashar Yaqoob 57, Sadam-ul-Haq 22. Sheraz Baig 2/34, MAli Rana 1/32, waqas Khan 1/46, Sher Baz Khan 1/49. tauseefclub 234 all out in 39.5 overs. M Arif 56, M Ahmed 47, SherBaz Khan 23, Junaid Mudassar 21, Shehzad Muhayudin 12,Israr Baig 18, M Ali Rana 11, Mudasar Ismael 17(no). SameerAkram 5/38, Amir Gulzar 3/41, Fahad-ul-Haq 1/46.

ludhiyana Gymmarch to quarters

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

Ludhiyana Gym has marched into thequarterfinal of the 27th MohammadYaseen Akhter Memorial Event after beat-ing Mughalpura Whites by 50 runs playedat Wahdat Colony ground on Tuesday. SCORES: ludhiyana Gym 171/6 in 20 overs. AdnanRaza 53, Arslan 32, Abbas Ali 30, waseem Zahoor 14,Ali Aslam 30. Sabtain Serwar 2/20, Zain-ul-Husnan1/15, HAssan nAsir 1/35, IShtiaq 1/15. Mughalpurawhites 121/8 in 20 overs. Zain-ul-Husnain 25, AfaqShahid 17, Sabtain Serwar 12, Ishtiaq 20, KamranYousuf 12. Faisal 2/12, Arslan 2/16, Zeeshan 2/10,KAshif Siddiq 1/2, Rizwan 1/15.

lAHORe: Guest former test cricketer Saleem elahigave away the man of the match award toMuhammad Hafeez while Amer Ilyas Butt andSalman Khan were also present on the occasion.

DUBAI: A cheerleader performs during the firsttwenty20 match between Pakistan andengland at the Dubai International Stadium. Afp

DUBAI: Awais Zia and (r) Shoaib Malik play shots during the first twenty20 matchagainst england at the Dubai International Stadium. Afp

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:33 AM Page 19

Sports20Friday, 24 February, 2012

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

On the second day of the Inter-districtSports Festival 2012, the hard-foughtcompetitions were in progress at all thedistricts of Punjab.

In Lahore, athletics college boys final,Mohsin Ali (Lahore) won the 100 m race.The 200 m gold went to Tariq Mehmood(Lahore) and the 400 m was won byMehmood Affan (Lahore). In 800 and1500 m, Mohsin Ali (Nankana Sb)achieved gold medals.

In javelin throw, Qasim Ali (Lahore),in shot put Danish Mehmood (Lahore)while in the long jump, Adnan Jahangir(Lahore) were the winner.

In the school boys final athleticsevents of 100 m and long jump, ShenakhtAli (Kasur) achieved limelight. In 200 m,M.Azam Ali (Nankana), in 400 m, Nas-rullah (Nankana), 800 m Abid (Kasur),1500 m M.Irfan (Kasur) and in shot putRana Waheed (Lahore) got to the titles

while M.Yasir (Lahore) attained first po-sition in javelin throw.

In school girls badminton, Govern-ment Higher Secondary School Saman-abad beat Government Khadijatul KubraSchool Sheikhupura 2-0. SamanabadSchool Lahore defeated GovernmentGirls Higher School Kasur 2-0.

In girls college badminton final, La-hore College beat Government DegreeCollege Kasur 2-0. In volleyball boys col-lege final, Government Gulberg CollegeLahore defeated Government Degree Col-lege Sheikhupura 2-0 with a score of 25-16, 25-13. In the girls volleyball final,Government College Township beat Gov-ernment College Sanglahill 2-0.

In school boys hockey final, ModelTown High School Lahore beat Govern-ment High School Shekhupura 3-0.

In the general public matches, Lahorebeat Nankana 4-1. In boys universityhockey matches, University of CentralPunjab thrashed Punjab University 3-0.

In hockey college boys, Government

College Kasur beat Government CollegeNankana 2-1. In boys college footballmatches, Punjab College of CommerceLahore beat Government Degree CollegeKasur 4-0. Government College Nankanadefeated Government CollegeShekhupura 7-2. In kabaddi college boys,Punjab College Lahore beat Shahkot Col-lege Nankana 58-25 while GovernmentCollege Shekhupura beat GovernmentDegree College Kasur 56-40. In karateschool girls, 45 kgs: Samra Ikram ofQueen Marry School won the title. In 50kgs, Mehak Ikram of Queen Marrywhereas in 55 kgs, Bakhtawar of QueenMarry were the winners.

In karate college girls, 45 kgs: AfiaAzam of Queen Marry College won thefirst position, 50 kgs: Memoona of QueenMarry while in 55 kgs: Quratul Ain ofQueen Marry got the titles.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the organiz-ing committee of the Punjab Sports Fes-tival 2012 was held at National HockeyStadium to review the arrangements.

MPA Saba Sadiq, DG Sports PunjabUsman Anwar and other officials at-tended the meeting. DG Sports briefedthe meeting about the foolproof securityarrangements, rescuers and first aid fa-

cilities for maximum protection of theplayers. He also ensured the principalsof all the schools and colleges for highestparticipation of the players and studentsto witness the grand event.

lAHORe: Govt Gulberg college vies against Govt Degree college Shekhupura during theInter-district Sports Festival Volleyball. STAff phOTO

Tough contests witnessed in Inter-district Sports Festival

Aqeel grabs Ictrophy nationalRanking title

kARACHISTAff REPORT

Pakistan number one Aqeel Khan haswon singles title of the 1st I.C Trophy Na-tional Ranking Championship 2012 beat-ing younger brother Yasir Khan in thefinal here at the Karachi Gymkhana Syn-thetic courts on Thursday. Mohd Ali Shah was the chief guest anddistributed the prizes among the winnerand cah awards of Rs 200,000. I the ladies singles final Saba Aziz pre-vailed over much experienced player SaraMansoor to take the title. She won instraight sets. FinAl resUlTs: Men’s singles: AqeelKhan beat Yasir Khan 6-1, 6-4.Ladies singles: Saba Aziz (Lahore) beatSara Mansoor 6-2, 6-2.Juniors Under-18 singles: Adil Koharibeat Ahmed Baber (Lahore ) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.Boys Under-14 Singles: Syed NofilKaleem (Islamabad) beat Dawar Rehan6-3, 6-0.

MARSEILLEAfP

Marseille coach Didier Deschamps wasleft to revel in an Italian-style victoryafter Andre Ayew's injury-time header

gave his side a last-gasp 1-0 win overInter Milan here on Wednesday. Thefirst leg of the Champions League last 16tie had been drifting towards a goallessdraw when Ayew pounced to convertMathieu Valbuena's 93rd-minute corner

and put OM in the driving seat ahead ofthe second leg on March 13.

Deschamps spent six years in Italywith Juventus -- five as a player and oneas a coach -- and he admitted it was re-freshing to finish on the right end of ascoreline in which Italian teams tradi-tionally specialise. "When we scored,there was no chance for them to comeback," he said. "It's true that it feels goodwhen you're on the right side of it. Oftenit's the Italian sides who do that, buttonight it was us."

It is almost a year since OM fell toManchester United at the same stage oflast season's tournament, after a 0-0draw in the home leg, and Deschampswas pleased his side had avoided thesame traps they fell into 12 months ago."Compared to last season, we've pro-gressed," said the Frenchman, whoseside are fifth in Ligue 1 and still compet-ing in both domestic cup competitions.

"We had a 0-0 then (against United),now it's 1-0. It's a source of pride for meand my players, because they believedright until the end." With Marseille un-beaten since November 23 and Interwithout a win in six games prior to kick-off, the 2010 champions appeared ripefor the taking but the hosts struggled tobreak them down until the closing stages.Having returned recently from AfricaCup of Nations duty with Ghana, Ayewsounded the rallying cry by forcing Intergoalkeeper Julio Cesar into a pair of savesbefore finally breaking the deadlock inthe final minute of added time. "He hasthat desire, that determination -- it's in-side him and he'll always have it," saidDeschamps of his match-winner.

MAnCHEStERAfP

Roberto Mancini, the Manchester Citymanager, has drawn a line under his long-running dispute with Carlos Tevez and in-sisted the Argentina striker is nowavailable for selection. But Mancini, talk-ing after his team reached the last 16 of theEuropa League with an emphatic 4-0 vic-tory over holders Porto, warned Tevez hefaces a major obstacle in attempting to re-gain a regular place in his side.

This week, Tevez formerly apologisedfor his behaviour during his refusal to playfor the team over a dispute with Manciniwhich dates back to September, when hedisobeyed his manager's instruction towarm-up during a Champions League de-feat away to Bayern Munich.

The Italian boss will meet his player be-fore training on Thursday and expects himto be available for selection in the middle ofnext month. "He has apologised," saidMancini. "I don’t have any problem. To-morrow, I will meet him before training,after that, he can start to work with us. "Ithink he maybe needs two or three weeks

to find form; after this he will be okay. Hecan play, like the other players," he addedwith City two points clear of ManchesterUnited at the top of the Premier League.

"Carlo (Carlos) knows the team verywell but the team, in the last six or sevenmonths, has played very well. They are topof the Premier League. "We know Carlowell, he's a top striker so it would begood to have him back, I think hecan help us and do a good job inthe next two months. "I think itis important if we have Carlo,Mario (Balotelli), Edin (Dzeko)and Sergio (Aguero) so it wouldbe good for the team." With Tevezstill absent from the City line-up,his compatriot Aguero wasthe pick of the hosts'stars at Eastlandshere on Wednesday,scoring the openinggoal in just 19 sec-onds then layingon a second forDzeko beforeDavid Silva andDavid Pizarro

completed the rout and a 6-1 aggregatewin for City. Mancini had spoken at thestart of the season about wanting to havefour front-line strikers at his disposal forthe campaign and now, with Tevez’s re-turn, he appears to be in that position."Carlo cannot play in the Europa League,"said Mancini. "But having four strikers for

the Premier League would be good.Mancini refused to get into an argu-ment with Argentina great Diego

Maradona, Aguero's father-in-law,who had said City were too defen-sive. "Diego was a fantasticplayer, one of the best in the

world," said Mancini before refus-ing to elaborate. However,

Maradona's son-in-lawcertainly looks likeone of Europe'sleading footballerson current formand Manciniadded: "Sergio isanother topstriker but he isyoung and stillneeds to im-

prove. "He's a top striker, he's scored a lotof goals and helped us in this game andduring the season. Now, over the last twomonths, it's important to have all the play-ers, all the strikers, available."

City's comfortable victory over last sea-son’s Europa League winners has left themas one of the favourites to claim the trophyin 2012 and, with Mancini’s team still oc-cupying first place in the Premier League,a league and cup double is possible.

"We hope so," said Mancini. "We wantto try to get to the final if possible. But it willbe difficult because the Europa League hastop squads -- Manchester United, Valencia,Schalke -- it is like the Champions League."For this reason, it will be difficult but wewill try. In the Premier League, we are topand if we win our last 13 games we win theleague!" Vitor Pereira, the Porto coach, sawdefender Rolando sent off as City scoredthree goals in the last 14 minutes and de-clined to answer when asked if he thoughthis team's conquerors could go on to winthe trophy. "The result didn't show whathappened on the pitch," Pereira said. "Ifpeople see the result and think City domi-nated the game, they're wrong."

AccA take RSSSoccer crown

ISLAMABADSTAff REPORT

Roots College International G-8 cam-pus organized a two-day football tour-nament at multipurpose ground of F-6Islamabad and was won by ACCAagainst BSc students. Earlier, ACCA defeated A-levels stu-dents and BSc defeated LLB studentsin semi-final. Walid Mushtaq, ED RSS, presented thetrophy and congratulated the winningteam. He said that sports can be a pow-erful agent for change that should beleveraged by students to drive signifi-cant positive development andprogress in a social and economic con-text. The rules of the game transcenddifferences and inequality and help re-define success and performance, headded.

ISlAMABAD: AccA and BSc Students beforethe final of the Roots college InternationalG-8 campus Soccer tournament.

Mancini ends Tevez feud asCity march on in Europa

Italian-style win delights Deschamps

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Sports 21Friday, 24 February, 2012

WATCh IT LIvE

ESPNPremier League: ChelseaV Bolton Wanderers08:25PM

GEOSPUERBD League: ChittagongKings V Dhaka Gladiators01:00PM

Dubai: Caroline Wozniacki

serves the ball to ana

ivanovic during the Dubai

Open quarter-final. AFP

DUBAIAfP

FORMER world number oneJelena Jankovic returnedto somewhere nearer herbest form on Thursday toupset Samantha Stosur and

reach the semi-finals of the Dubai Openin her adopted home city. It is the eighth-seeded Serb's first semi-final of the yearand also her best win for 12 months asshe beat the fourth-seeded US Openchampion from Australia 6-4, 6-2.

Jankovic achieved it despite a slowlyhealing muscle tear in her left thighwhich, she says, was originally "five pointfive centimetres long." She mostlyadopted a more assertive style than sheonce had, controlling more of the rallies,and reducing the amount of court sheneeded to cover. Stosur, by contrast, ap-peared subdued, looked travel-weary,and sounded as if she might be sufferingfrom a cold. Having a base locally mayhave aided the livelier Jankovic signifi-cantly. "I tried to make as many returnsas possible, because her serve is one ofthe best, if not the best in the game, andit is not a typical serve," Jankovic said.

"I was trying to read it and lean to

one side a little earlier. I think I did thatpretty well and was in control much ofthe time. It's a long time since I have beenin the final here, and that's what I'm look-ing to try to do." It is seven years sinceshe faced Lindsay Davenport in the final,and if she wins Friday's semi against Ag-nieszka Radwanska, the fifth seeded Pole,

it will give Jankovic a chance of going onebetter than she did against the formerWimbledon and US Open champion in2005. Jankovic survived a mini-crisis onher serve game in the seventh game whenshe came through three deuces, going onto make an important breakthrough for5-3 in the next game.

Jankovic upsets Stosur,into Dubai last four

DUBAIAfP

World number six Agnieszka Radwanska launcheda verbal attack on Victoria Azarenka, the world'sleading female player, after reaching the semi-finalsof the Dubai Open on Thursday. The 22-year-oldPole said she was "angry" and had lost respect forthe superbly in-form Belarussian, alleging thatAzarenka's behaviour in Doha last week had notbeen good for the image of the game. Radwanskaappeared to be referring to Azarenka's hobbling andwincing between rallies during parts of their semi-final match, whilst still moving well enough duringthe rallies to secure a solid straight sets win.

It follows Radwanska's criticisms of grunting in thewomen's game last month after losing to Azarenka inthe quarter-finals of the Australian Open. Radwanska's

latest comments came when she was asked in a pressconference here whether she had been annoyed at theend of last week's loss in Doha. She replied: "Well, tobe honest, I don't think this is worth a comment. But Ithink after this match....just lost a lot of respect. That'sit. "If you do this in the match, if anyone didn't see thematch, I think it's just a quick look on YouTube andyou'll know what was going on," she continued.

The questioner responded by saying that he hadnot been seeking for Radwanska to criticize anotherplayer, but she continued anyway. "Yeah, I was angrybecause I don't think this is the great image for thewomen's tennis, what was going on there," she added."So, yeah, unfortunately." Youtube clips show Rad-wanska offering a peremptory handshake to Azarenkawith no eye contact at the end of the match, and in-clude a TV commentator saying that Azarenka's be-havior had affected her opponent's focus.

Radwanska ‘angry’ with Azarenka

DUBAI: Germany's Sabine lisicki returns theball to Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska duringtheir wtA Dubai Open quarter-final. Afp

Malisse oustsRoddick at Memphis

MEMPHISAfP

Belgian veteran Xavier Malisse upsetUS second seed Andy Roddick 7-6(10/8), 7-5 on Wednesday to reach thesecond round of the $1.375 million ATPand WTA Memphis Open. Malisse fired12 aces, twice as many as Roddick, toadvance into a second-round matchupon Thursday against Germany's Ben-jamin Becker, who eliminated Israel'sDudi Sela 6-4, 6-1. South African sev-enth seed Kevin Anderson fired 19 acesin advancing 7-5, 6-3 over US qualifierRobby Ginepri in 75 minutes. Ander-son, who next faces US wildcard SamQuerrey, could face US top seed JohnIsner in the semi-finals. On thewomen's side, three seeded playerswere eliminated in second-roundmatches, leaving New Zealand's fourth-seeded Marina Erakovic as the onlyseed in the quarter-finals. Italy's Al-berta Brianti ousted Kazak second seedKsenia Pervak 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 whileUkranian Lesia Tsurenko outlastedCzech third seed Lucie Hradecka 3-6,6-4, 7-6 (7/3). Swede Sofia Arvidssondowned French fifth seed Pauline Par-mentier 7-6 (7/5), 0-6, 6-3.

nurpur quartetdown colonySugar inPunjab Polo

LAHoRESTAff REPORT

The combined ef-fort of Nurpurquartet gotthem pastColony Sugarin the En-terprisePunjab PoloCup 2012match hereat the LahorePolo Club groundon Thursday. Nurpur relying on the team work ofShah Qubilai Alam, Hamza MawazKhan, Saqib Khan Khakwani RajaSamiullah downed Colony Sugar 7-6. Former Pakistan captain Shah QubilaiAlam converted three goals whileHamza Mawaz Khan got two and SaqibKhan Khakwani and Raja Samiullahshared one goal each for Nurpur. Onthe other hand Colony Sugar entirelydepended on two foreign players Santi-ago Mendivil and Raul Laplacette, whohit in three goals each but their strug-gle ended up in a losing cause. Umpires for the match were SimonMclaren Tosh and Ignacio Del Tourand Referee was Manuel Crespo.Meanwhile in the standing BBJ Pipesis leading the table with two points anda better goal average while Nestle andColony Sugar are placed second andthird in the tabl.

STANDiNgS

TEAmS P W L gf gA PTS AVE

BBJ Pipes 1 1 - 6 5 1/2 2 + 1/2

nestle 2 1 1 12 1/2 12 2 + 1/2

colony Sugar 1 - 1 6 7 - - 1

condolenceLAHoRE

STAff REPORT

Chairman PCB Muhammad ZakaAshraf, Chairperson PCB Women WingMrs. Bushra Aitazaz, and PCB COOSubhan Ahmed have condoled the saddemise of PCB CFO Badar M Khan’s fa-ther. Manzoor Hussain Khan was criti-cally ill for over a week and died lastnight in a local hospital. The PCB Man-agement has expressed their deepsense of sorrow on the passing away ofBadar’s father. The PCB shares in thegrief of the family and prayed that thesoul of Badar’s father rest in peace.May Allah Almighty give him and hisfamily strength to bear this huge loss.

LHR 24-02-2012_Layout 1 2/24/2012 3:33 AM Page 21

Friday, 24 February, 2012 22

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

ISLAMABADSHAiq HUSSAiN

AUS Congressional delega-tion, which reached Islam-abad on Thursday amidstfresh tensions between Is-lamabad and Washington

over recently introduced resolution inAmerican Congress seeking sovereigntyfor Baloch people, declared that the twomajor US political parties – the Republi-cans and the Democrats – as well as theObama administration were against theresolution and did not support Balochis-tan’s independence.

The delegation, led by CongressmanDavid Dreier, has visited Pakistan aftermonths of strained bilateral relations,which started with the US raid in Abbot-tabad on May 2 last year, and reached thelowest ebb in November when NATO air-craft bombed two Pakistani border poststhat killed 24 soldiers.

The delegation’s visit was plannedahead of the introduction of a non-bind-ing resolution last week in the House ofRepresentatives by US lawmaker DanaRohrabacher, stating that the Baloch peo-ple living in Pakistan, Iran andAfghanistan, have the right to self-deter-mination and to their own sovereigncountry. The resolution, nonetheless,complicated the work for the visiting con-gressmen, who arrived on a damage con-trol exercise.

“On Balochistan, the congressmen

categorically stated that both the Repub-licans and the Democrats as well as theUS government were against the resolu-tion tabled by an individual at the sub-committee level. US supported Pakistan’ssecurity and territorial integrity, the con-gressmen said,” according to an official

statement released on Thursday.The prime minister plainly told the

congressmen that the United States mustrespect Pakistan’s independence, thestatement said. “The people of Pakistanexpect the US to be mindful and respect-ful of Pakistan’s national interests and in

particular Pakistan’s security and territo-rial integrity,” the statement quoted theprime minister as saying. The congress-men agreed with the prime minister thatthe trust deficit should be removed and

US delegation denies support forCongress Balochistan resolution

iSLAmAbAD: Prime minister yousaf Raza gilani poses for a group photo with members of a US Congressional delegation who

called on him at Prime minister’s House on Thursday.

ISLAMABADAPP

The situation in Balochistan was discussed in detailduring a meeting held at the PM House on Thursdaywith Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in chair.

The meeting was attended by Governor Balochis-tan Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi, Chief Minister NawabAslam Raisani and members of the committee onBalochistan, which was constituted by the Prime Min-ister to contact political leaders for holding of an AllParties Conference (APC).

The 14-member committee comprises Leader ofthe House in Senate, Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari,Minister for Kashmir Affairs, Mian Manzoor AhmedWattoo, Minister for Textile Industry, MakhdoomShahabuddin, Minister for Religious Affairs, SyedKhursheed Shah, Minister for Science and Technol-ogy, Changez Jamali, Minister of Communication, Dr

Arbab Alamgir, Minister of State for Industries, Ayat-ullah Durrani, Senators Mian Raza Rabbani, JahangirBadar, Dr Babar Awan and MNAs Raja Pervez Ashraf,Qamar Zaman Kaira, Nazar Muhammad Gondal andSumsam Ali Bokhari. The PM directed members ofcommittee to propose practical steps within one week,in consultation with all stakeholders. The meeting alsodiscussed the holding of APC on Balochistan.

The PM< directed that a detailed report with re-gard to the development work in Balochistan, in-cluding under the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistanshould be presented in the next meeting, so that itsfast track implementation is ensured. During themeeting it was also decided to take all out measureson the issue of missing persons. The meeting reit-erated that the federal government will fully coop-erate with the provincial government to address thesituation in Balochistan. The next meeting will beheld after one week.

US pushed ahead with

drone strikes despite

Pakistani resistanceWASHIngton

REUTERS

Shortly before the US ended a two-monthpause in missile strikes on militants inPakistan last month, senior US officialstelephoned their Pakistani counterpartsand told them Washington would be re-suming its covert drone programme de-spite mounting objections in Islamabad.US Vice President Joe Biden and US Secre-tary of State Hillary Clinton were amongthose who spoke with Pakistani officialsshortly before the eight-week pause in thedrone programme ended, sources familiarwith the issue said. General Martin Dempsey,chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff,spoke to his Chief of Army Staff General Ash-faq Kayani around the same time, thesources said, but a US defence official saidthe two men did not discuss drone strikes.The strike that followed on January 10,when US aircraft fired missiles at a homein the North Waziristan, was the first suchattack since US aircraft, in a mishap thatplunged bilateral ties into a tailspin, killed24 Pakistani soldiers along remote borderwith Afghanistan.The November 26 border incident infuri-ated a vulnerable government in Islamabadand prompted Pakistani officials to signal,in more emphatic terms than they had pre-viously, that they would no longer acceptUS drone strikes. That set the Obama ad-ministration up for yet another potentialcollision with Pakistan as it continues acontroversial drone programme that hasbecome a centerpiece of US efforts toquash militancy there.The Pakistani border deaths, which NATOdeemed an accident and a tragedy,prompted Pakistan to shut down an over-land supply route that is key for NATOtroops in Afghanistan and to force US per-sonnel off an air base in southwest Pak-istan that had been used to launch dronestrikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas.In public, the US missile strikes are a fre-quent target of criticism for Pakistanipoliticians, who decry them as a violationof the country’s sovereignty. But in private,Pakistani leaders have long supported andeven encouraged the strikes provided theysteer clear of certain areas and targets.Yet even as both governments try to putthe relationship back together, current andformer US officials speaking on conditionof anonymity said the Obama administra-tion will not hesitate to continue the aerialstrikes when targets and intelligence aresufficiently compelling.But the US officials also said they are un-likely to give Pakistan advance notice aboutdrone strikes for the time being, given thelack of trust on both sides and what Ameri-can officials describe as a track record inPakistan of intelligence leaks allowing mili-tants to get away before planned attacksare launched.

BAghDAD: A wave of attacks blamed on al Qaeda killedat least 39 people on Thursday, in what Iraq’s parliamentspeaker said was an attempt to derail an Arab League sum-mit planned for the end of March. Security officials andmedical sources said more than 250 people were woundedin the attacks, which hit six different provinces, and camejust days after a suicide blast near a Baghdad police acad-emy. “The terrorist al Qaeda organisation is trying to sendmessages to its supporters that it is still operating on Iraqisoil, and that it has the capability to strike in the capitaland the cities and both big and small regions,” said a state-ment on the interior ministry’s website. Attacks occurredin religiously mixed Baghdad in central Iraq and Babil toits south, Sunni-majority Diyala, Salaheddin, and Ninevehprovince north of the capital. Violence also hit Kirkuk, anoil-rich province that the autonomous Kurdistan regionwants to incorporate against Baghdad’s wishes. At least 16car bombs and eight roadside bombs were set off onThursday, and there were several shootings and a mortarattack. It was the deadliest day in Iraq since January 14,when 53 people were killed in a suicide bombing just out-side the southern port city of Basra. AfP

42 killed in Iraq attacks propose Balochistan steps within aweek, Gilani directs committee

WASHIngtonAfP

A Pakistani held at Guan-tanamo Bay has reached a pleaagreement with US prosecu-tors that could see him testify-ing at the trials of accused 9/11plotters in return for a reducedsentence, The WashingtonPost reported on Wednesday,citing US officials.

The plea deal with MajidShoukat Khan, 31, wouldmark the first with a “high-value” detainee who had beendetained by the CIA at a se-cret prison abroad beforebeing transferred to the US-run detention center in Cuba.

Khan, who had been alegal resident in the UnitedStates, was charged with con-spiring with al Qaeda to at-tack the US and Indonesia aswell as plotting to assassinateformer Pakistani presidentPervez Musharraf. He hasbeen held at Guantanamo

Bay since 2006.Under the deal with mili-

tary prosecutors, Khan – whohad previously faced a possi-ble life sentence if convicted –could eventually be releasedfrom the Guantanamo prison,the Post reported, quotingunnamed officials. A Penta-gon spokesman would notconfirm the plea agreement,only saying that an arraign-ment hearing was set for nextweek on February 29.

“Mr Khan has the right toenter into any legal arrange-ment he chooses,” said Lieu-tenant Colonel ToddBreasseale.

Khan’s lawyer, JonathanDixon, told AFP, “I cannotconfirm or deny it, I have nocomment on this case.”

Khan agreed to testify atmilitary commission trialsover the next four years, andcould then be transferred toPakistan after that, accordingto the Post.

plea deal for pakistaniat Guantanamo

Continued on page 04

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