Pakistan Today Karachi Edition 17th April

PAGE | 22 PAGE | 05

Judges are not abovethe law, believes legalwizard Aitzaz Ahsan

Pakistan trusts India more than

ever, says Hina Khar

Breivik defiant as Norway massacre trial opens

PAGE |17

Karachi edition tuesday, 17 april, 2012 Jamadi-ul-awal 24, 1433Rs 15.00 Vol ii no 290 22 pages

ISLAMABADShAiq hUSSAiN

THe brazen attack by the Taliban inthe Afghan capital on Sunday hasonce again brought the Haqqaninetwork into sharp focus, with theUnited States asking for a fresh

stern action by Pakistan against this most in-fluential militant group allegedly based inNorth Waziristan, as it is being suspected byWashington and Kabul of staging the assaulton important government installations andthe US embassy.

It has been only hours since the Taliban’snearly 18-hour-long attack in Kabul, but au-thorities in Washington and Kabul have al-ready started pointing fingers at the Haqqaninetwork and Pakistan is once again beingasked to take steps to weaken the powerfulTaliban-linked insurgent group, which isblamed for some of the deadliest attacks in thepast. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton andWashington’s envoy to Pakistan CameronMunter separately urged upon Pakistan totake robust action to stop terror attacks.

The US, Pakistan and Afghanistan mustwork together to take “robust action” to stopterror attacks, Clinton told her Pakistani coun-terpart in a telephonic conversation on Mon-day. Clinton discussed the coordinated attacksin Kabul with Khar and “underscored ourshared responsibility for robust action — bythe US and ISAF, by Afghanistan, and by Pak-istan — to confront and defeat terrorists and

violent extremists,” a US official said.State Department spokeswoman Victoria

Nuland said Clinton had called Khar to talkabout the next steps after Pakistan’s parlia-ment approved new guidelines on its thornyrelations with the United States. The twodiplomats also “discussed the cowardly insur-gent attacks in Afghanistan” on Sunday inwhich militants carried out a series of coordi-nated attacks in Kabul in an unprecedented18-hour assault. “Initial indications are thatthe Haqqani network was involved in this setof attacks that occurred yesterday in Kabul,”Pentagon press secretary George Little said ofSunday’s assault.

The 18-hour attack was “well-coordi-nated,” but Afghan security forces “did a veryeffective job” in quelling the onslaught, Littletold reporters. It was not surprising that insur-gents had launched an attack with the adventof spring, when fighting usually escalates inAfghanistan, he said.

“We thought something like this may verywell happen and it did,” he said. Meanwhile inIslamabad, Ambassador Munter called onForeign Minister Khar on Monday and askedfor action against the Haqqanis, according todiplomatic sources. Khar also spoke to herAfghan counterpart Dr Zalmai Rassoul ontelephone to express solidarity with theAfghan government and the people for theSunday’s attack in Kabul in which preciouslives were lost.

ISLAMABADMASood RehMAN

Hearing a case pertaining to the non-implementation on the SupremeCourt’s National ReconciliationOrdinance (NRO) verdict, a seven-member special bench of the apexcourt neither announced its scheduledruling on Monday over the defiance oforders by Prime Minister Yousaf RazaGilani by not writing a letter to Swissauthorities, nor did it hint at a date forannouncing such a ruling. Whilehearing the non- implementation onthe NRO verdict case on March 29, thespecial bench had decided

US, Kabul point fingers at Haqqanisfor deadly attackg Clinton, Munter urge Pakistan to act against dreaded militant outfit

PM’s fate hangs in the balanceg Bench says pM was

aware of adnan

Khawaja’s conviction

before appointing him

ogdCl Md

g rejects application by

pM seeking no verdict on

nro non-implementation

case until decision on

president’s immunity

BANNU: A prisoner from Kohat, Zahir Shah returns to the Bannu Central Jail on Monday after he and several other inmates were

taken by Taliban militants in an epic jailbreak in the history of the country on Saturday night. online | related stories on pages 03 & 04

Continued on page 04Continued on page 04

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM

02tuesday, 17 april, 2012

News

today’s

lookQuick

LaHOrE

Story on Page 07

NEWS

Story on Page 05

CartOON

Page 13

‘Cash-strapped’ lUMS forces students to pay through their stomachs! durrani warns PPP against Seraiki province creation

School grenade attack kills childPESHAWAR: A hand grenade attack on a school on the out-skirts of Peshawar on Monday killed a six-year-old child andwounded two other children, police said. Suspected militantsthrew a grenade from a lane behind the Iqra Public School inKhazana area which landed near children who were washingtheir hands at a water tap, senior police officer Tahir Ayub toldAFP. The privately run school teaches both boys and girls in re-ligious and secular studies, residents said. “Three children werewounded in the blast, one of them died on way to the hospital,”Ayub added. AfP

Labour Party suspends Nazirfor offering ‘Obama bounty’

LONDON: The British LabourParty has suspended Lord NazirAhmed from the party after accu-sations he called for a £10mbounty for the capture of US Pres-ident Barack Obama and formerUS president George Bush. Theparty initiated action against LordAhmed of Rotherdam for his al-leged remarks published in a Pak-istani newspaper, which were saidto have been made in response toan announcement from Washing-

ton earlier this month of a $10m bounty for information lead-ing to the arrest and conviction of Hafiz Saeed, the founder ofthe Pakistani-based Laskhar-e-Tayyaba. A Labour Partyspokeswoman told the BBC: “We have suspended Lord Ahmedpending investigation. If these comments are accurate we ut-terly condemn these remarks which are totally unacceptable.The international community is rightly doing all in its powerto seek justice for the victims of the Mumbai bombings andhalt terrorism.” But Lord Ahmed denied offering a bounty,saying he was talking about “war crimes” in Iraq andAfghanistan. He also complained that party chiefs had notspoken to him before announcing the move and challenged theparty to produce evidence against him. However, speaking tothe Press Association from Pakistan, Ahmed admitted he hadtold the meeting that Bush and former Labour Prime MinisterTony Blair should be prosecuted for war crimes. “They havesuspended me? That’s a surprise to me. I did not know,” hesaid. “If the Labour Party wants to suspend me I will deal withthe Labour Party. They will have to give me some evidence.”Asked about the reported comments, he said: “I never saidthose words. I did not offer a bounty. I said that there havebeen war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan and thosepeople who have got strong allegations against them – GeorgeW Bush and Tony Blair – have been involved in illegal warsand should be brought to justice.” MAJid KhATTAK

PM rejects early polls’ demandISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Mon-day said all political parties that wanted early polls would bedisappointed, as the general election would be held on thescheduled time. Addressing reporters on the occasion ofCOMSAT commission’s second meeting, he rejected the de-mand for early elections, and said all those seeking earlyelections must contact him. Gilani appreciated the servicesrendered by COMSAT in the field of science and technology.He said the country could achieve its goals, eliminate povertyand increase economic growth by progressing in the field ofscience only. On the occasion, PM also announced a Rs 1million grant for the commission.oNliNe

QUETTAShAhZAdA ZUlfiqAR

FOUR people, including a shopkeeperbelonging to the Hazara community,were killed and three others woundedin firing incidents in Quetta and

Khuzdar on Monday. The banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the attacks.Police officials said unidentified armed menon a motorcycle opened fire at a tyre shop lo-cated on Kanwari Road of Quetta. As a result,a man identified as Sulman Hazara receivedserious wounds and succumbed to his injuries.Police moved the body to hospital for autopsy.Police say the deceased belonged to the Hazaracommunity of Shia Muslims and the incidentappeared to be a case of sectarian targetedkilling. In another incident, unidentifiedarmed men opened fire on a vehicle carryingmembers of Hazara community near the Ben-zair Bhutto flyover in Quetta. Miraculously, nobody got injured as the bullets only hit thewheels of the vehicle. Around 18 people be-longing to the Hazara community have beenkilled in targeted killing incidents by sectarian

killers in parts of Quetta during the last 10days.

Meanwhile, an alleged dacoit was killedand another wounded in a firing incident onSpinny Road in Quetta. Police say a person,namely Sadam was on his way on a motorcyclewhen was intercepted by two armed men. Theytried to snatch his bike. However, Sadamshowed resistance upon which dacoit openedfire that resulted in injuries for Sadam and hisown accomplice. In Khuzdar, two people werekilled and two others wounded in two separatefiring incidents. Unidentified armed menopened fire on Dr Mohammad Anwar in Khuz-dar town. As a result, his brother MohammadWasim and bodyguard Khair Muhammad re-ceived serious wounds. They were beingshifted to hospital when Khair Muhammadsuccumbed to his injuries. However, motivebehind the killing is yet to be ascertained.

Separately, a person opened fire on his fa-ther identified as Malik Shah Mohammad andwounded him seriously. He was moved to hos-pital where he died due to excessive loss ofblood. Police said that cause of killing ap-peared to be domestic dispute.

PeShAWAR: Bomb disposal squad personnel search the site of a hand-grenade attack on a school on Monday. staff photo

Hazara Shia among fourkilled across Balochistan

SC seeks reporton violence inBalochistan ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has sought areport within three weeks on the sectarian vio-lence in Quetta. A three-member bench held ahearing of the case regarding the law and ordersituation in Balochistan on Monday during which,Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry saidin his remarks that the police knows where themissing persons are, but was unable to recoverthem due to certain reasons. “24 missing peoplewere killed in the province in the last two weeks.Provincial Minister Zafar Zehri has said some ofthe cabinet members and the FC are involved inthe kidnappings,” the CJP said during the pro-ceedings. The court expressed resentment overthe fact that the IG Balochistan and the threewanted men were not present during the hearingand ordered that these people be presented beforethe court today (Tuesday). oNliNe

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM


NewsCOMMENtThe show goes on:

articles on Page 12-13

Another stop for the travelling circus

Jurists’ moot:On staying in limits

dr faisal Bari:

daily Khabroona:

FOrEigN NEWS

Story on Page 18

artS & ENtErtaiNMENt

Story on Page 15

SPOrtS

Story on Page 18

fierce clashes as observers begin work in Syria Salman to gift Kareena a BMW

Rural-urban boundaries: It is time to re-evaluate them

Regional Press: Elections and political activismRabia Ahmed:A blessing or a bane? : Hundreds of people are killed in the name of religion

Akamal cleared for selection

terrorist used Facebook,

cellphone to

escape from Bannu jailNEwS DESK

Taliban militants had stormed a jail in Pak-istan’s northwest primarily to free AdnanRashid, on death row for an attempt to as-sassinate former military ruler PervezMusharraf, and who was in touch with theoutside world through a mobile phone, Face-book and blogs, according to a NDTV report. Over 380 other prisoners along with Rashidhad escaped from the Central Jail at Bannuin the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province late onSaturday night. Security officials have told the media thatthe Pakistani Taliban carried out the attackprimarily to free Rashid, who was sentencedto death by a military court for the attempton the life of Musharraf in 2003.Rashid had used mobile phones inside deathrow cells of different jails where he was heldafter his conviction, an english daily quotedits sources as saying. A former junior technician of the PakistanAir Force, Rashid also contributed to severalsocial networking sites like Facebook and toblogs from inside prison, the report said. He was in contact with persons outside theprison, including several journalists,through his mobile phone and even sentSMSes to the reporters, the report said.

Musharraf’s attackershifted from Mansehrato Haripur jail

PESHAwARShAMiM ShAhid

In the wake of the Bannu jailbreak, Niaz Mo-hammad, sentenced to death in an unsuccess-ful attempt on the life of former presidentPervez Musharraf, was shifted fromMansehra jail to Haripur jail on Monday.Through some highly placed sources, Pak-istan Today came to know that on securitygrounds, Mohammad was shifted toMansehra in September. During the same period, Adnan Rashid wasshifted from Peshawar to Bannu Jail.Both Rashid and Mohammad were shifted toPeshawar jail in August 2011 from AdyalaRawalpindi Jail. Both of them remained ac-complices and partners in an unsuccessfulattempt on the life of the former president acouple of years ago.However, the seniors in Peshawar jail haveshown reluctance in showing hospitality toboth Rashid and Mohammad. During thesame days, notorious Taliban commanderfrom Attock Nadeem Abbass along with Za-keem Afridi, succeeded in escaping afterkilling three policemen. Both of them wereassisted by accomplices in escape when theywere on medical trip from jail to a dentalhospital in the university campus area.Soon after their escape, a large number ofconvicts and dangerous terrorists were takento various jails of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa fromPeshawar Central Jail. Almost all of the pris-oners were reluctant to go from Peshawarbut the jail superintendent said the old bar-racks were being demolished.The experts including high ranking authori-ties have earlier declared Bannu andMansehra jails most insecure prison houses.even the high ups in Khyber Pakhtunkhwaand tribal affairs expressed reservations overshifting of dangerous prisoners to Bannu. KP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussainhas earlier said they had proposed shifting ofall dangerous prisoners to Kohat, Lakki Mar-wat and Dera Ismail Khan jails.

Six-legged child taken to Karachi for treatmentKARACHIoNliNe

A child born with six legs few days ago in Sukkur was shifted toKarachi for medical treatment on Monday on the directives of SindhGovernor Ishratul Abad. Father of the child, Imran Sheikh earliersaid he was poor and could not afford more expenses over the child’streatment. He appealed to the government for help regarding hischild’s treatment. The Sindh governor took notice about the babyborn with six legs in Sukkur and directed officials concerned to en-sure all-out assistance for the treatment of child.

Khan also assured the parents that the government would pro-vide all-out support for the treatment of their baby.

The child has been shifted to the National Institute of ChildHealth (NICH).

NICH Director Dr Jamal Raza stated that the paranormal childhaving six legs was not a single baby instead there were two childrenin one body and one of them was premature.

He said it was a genetic disease and only one out of 0.1 millionchildren become the victim of this disease.

Dr Raza said that a team consisting of surgeons will examine thechild comprehensively and then decide about the operation and doc-tors from abroad would be called upon if required.

Was brazen jail break an inside job?BANNUReUTeRS

Amilitant commander who helped plan anassault on a jail on Sunday which freednearly 400 prisoners said his group had in-side information. Pakistan’s Taliban move-ment, which is close to al Qaeda, said it was

behind the brazen assault by militants armed withrocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles.

A police official said most of those who escaped fromthe jail in the northwestern town of Bannu were mili-tants, including one on death row for trying to assassi-nate former president Pervez Musharraf.

“We had maps of the area and we had completemaps and plans of the jail as well,” the commander, asenior member of the Taliban, told Reuters. “All I haveto say is we have people who support us in Bannu. It waswith their support that this operation was successful.” Itwas not possible to independently verify that account.

But the inspector general for prisons in the north-western Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Arshad Majeed,did not rule out collusion.

“It is possible that the attackers had help from theinside. We cannot confirm that but we are investigatingto see what happened,” he said. The jail break, describedas one of the biggest in Pakistan’s history, underscoredthe strategic American ally’s struggle to tame militancyover a decade since it joined the US-led “war on terror”.

Pakistan’s performance against militants cameunder greater scrutiny after US special forces killedOsama bin Laden in May last year in a Pakistani townwhere he had apparently been living for years.

Pakistani officials describe bin Laden’s long pres-ence in Abbottabad as a security lapse and reject sugges-tions that members of the military and intelligenceservice were complicit in hiding him there.

Many Pakistanis believe law enforcement officialsare corrupt and inept, and complain the judicial systemconsistently fails to lock up criminals, including militantswho carry out violent attacks. The prison break could bea psychological blow to security forces following repeatedgovernment assertions that security crackdowns haveweakened militant groups.

Pakistan is seen as critical to US efforts to stabiliseAfghanistan, yet Pakistan faces its own daunting securityproblems. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is seenas the biggest threat, staging suicide bombings and at-tacks on military compounds.

The Bannu attackers arrived in a convoy of vehicles,blocking off all access points to the jail before firingrocket-propelled grenades at the black, metal gates of theprison and forcing their way in.

They moved through the prison quickly facing littleresistance until they found Adnan Rasheed, who tookpart in one of the attempts to kill Musharraf, and thenfreed him and 383 others.

“We had set one hour as the target time for our mis-sion. This included entering the jail, breaking out our

people, getting back into our vehicles and reaching a safespot,” said the commander, who asked not to be named.

Citing preliminary investigations into the prisonbreak, Majeed said 150 guards were supposed to be onduty when the militants struck, but only 36 were.

even the ones that showed up to work were poorlyequipped to deal with the onslaught by dozens of mili-tants.

Standing outside the prison, where over 900 wereheld before the escape, constable Firdous Khan showeda Reuters reporter the only AK-47 assault rifle magazinehe had. “This emptied out pretty quickly. Then I wasout,” he said.

The Taliban commander, based in North Waziristan— home to some of the world’s most dangerous militants— said 150 fighters, including foreigners, launched theprison assault after months of training.

“We spent 20 million rupees on this mission,” hesaid. Police officials said 76 escapees were now back incustody.

One of them, Zahir Shah, 29, described the chaos fol-lowing the attack and why he decided to reject freedomafter escaping.

“They took us with them to the main gate. Outsidethere were many cars. I think 20 cars in all. They shovedme into one of the vehicles and drove off really fast,” hesaid as he trembled outside the prison before turninghimself in. “I could be out in a few years for good behav-iour. I don’t want to ruin my chances.”

Authorities hadprior information

ISLAMABADiNP

The authorities had information that there was apossibility of a terrorist attack on Bannu jail,sources said on Monday.The information was passed on to concernedquarters by the intelligence apparatus on Janu-ary 5.According to the sources, the intelligence agencieshad conveyed to the authorities that terrorist com-mander Askari ex Tariq Geedar Group was plan-ning to carry out terrorist attacks in Kohatdistrict, Kohat cantonment, police station Lachiand Bannu jail to free imprisoned terrorists.The sources said a total of 341 prisoners escapedfrom Bannu jail on Sunday early morning.These included 21 prisoners facing death penalty,21 facing life sentence, 95 were charged with mur-der, 30 were facing narcotics cases while 24 wereconfined under the Frontier Crimes Regulations.The sources said 145 were on judicial remandwhile five female prisoners were also amongthe inmates.

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM


News

PESHAwARSTAff RePoRT

TAKING strong ex-ception to theBannu Jail attack,K h y b e rP a k h t u n k h w a

Chief Minister AmeerHaider Khan Hoti on Mon-day ordered removal of foursenior officers and a de-tailed enquiry into the inci-dent.

The four officers re-moved from their posts andmade officers on specialduty included Commis-sioner Abdullah Khan Mah-sud, Inspector GeneralPrison Arshad MajidMohmand, Deputy Inspec-tor General MuhammadIftikhar Khan and BannuJail Deputy SuperintendentMuhammad Zahid Khan.

In accordance with thechief minister’s directives, athree-member enquiry teamwas also formed that com-prised Dr Ataul Haq, Mush-taq Jadoon and Syed AlmgirShah.

The additional inspector

general police (investiga-tion) and the inspector gen-eral (prison) will work asofficio-members with the in-vestigating body.

“Attack and escape of384 prisoners from BannuJail is not only ample proofof inefficiency on the partof the quarters concernedbut it has also caused asense of insecurityamongst the people,”provincial InformationMinister Iftikhar Hussainsaid at a news conference.

He said simultaneousattacks by militants in Kabuland Bannu was not only sur-prising but put a big ques-tion to the mainstakeholders or partners inthe ongoing war on terror.

In response to a ques-tion, Interior SecretaryAzam Khan confirmed thatso far 66 prisoners had re-turned or had been rear-rested. He said efforts fornetting out the remainingescaped prisoners were un-derway.

He said that the govern-ment had completed the en-

quiry into the escape of no-torious militant command-ers, Nadeem Abbass andZakim Afridi from PeshawarCentral Jail after killingthree policemen in August2011.

Meanwhile, the provin-cial home ministry dis-patched a preliminaryinquiry report into the at-tack to the Interior Ministry,describing it an intelligencefailure.

According to the report,150 attackers on 50 vehiclesstormed the central jail.

The report said of the378 prisoners who fled thejail, 269 were convicts and89 were still under-trial.There were five womenamong the prisoners whoescaped, the report said.

The report noted that 30policemen, including 10armed personnel were pres-ent while 63 were absentfrom duty at the time of theattack.

It said mobile phoneswere also being used by in-mates without any check byjail authorities.

wASHINGTONAfP

The World Bank chose Korean-Ameri-can physician Jim Yong Kim as its nextchief on Monday in a decision that sur-prised few despite the first-ever chal-lenge to the US lock on the bank’spresidency. The bank’s directors choseKim, a 52-year-old US health expertand educator, over Nigerian FinanceMinister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, whohad argued that the huge developmentlender needs reorientation undersomeone from the developing world.

Kim, currently president of the IvyLeague university Dartmouth College,

will succeed outgoing president RobertZoellick, a former US diplomat who is de-parting in June at the end of his five-yearterm. The bank’s directors expressed“deep appreciation” to Kim, Okonjo-Iweala and a third candidate, Colombianeconomist Jose Antonio Ocampo, whopulled out of the race Friday.

“Their candidacies enriched thediscussion of the role of the presidentand of the World Bank Group’s futuredirection,” the bank said in a statement.

“The final nominees received sup-port from different member countries,which reflected the high caliber of thecandidates.” The US nomination ofKim, breaking the pattern of the 11

American bankers and diplomats whohave come before him, had surprisedmany, as he was little known outsideglobal health circles and has no back-ground in development economics.

But the South Korea-born, US-raisedphysician and anthropologist, with de-grees from Harvard University, has astrong record in developing programs tofight diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuber-culosis in poor countries. He said afterbeing nominated that he had the abilityto work with economists and other spe-cialists in running the bank, which has astaff of 9,000 and a loan portfolio that hit$258 billion in 2011, including $43 bil-lion in new loans and grants.

KABULAfP

Afghan President HamidKarzai Monday blamed in-telligence failures, particu-larly on the part of NATOforces supporting his gov-ernment, for the worst coor-dinated insurgent attacks in10 years of war.

Karzai’s accusationcame after an unprece-dented 18-hour assault bysquads of Taliban militants,some disguised as women inburqas, on government of-fices, embassies and foreignbases in Kabul and neigh-bouring provinces.

“The terrorists’ infiltra-tion in Kabul and otherprovinces is an intelligencefailure for us and especiallyfor NATO and should be se-riously investigated,” Karzaisaid in a statement.

explosions and gunfirerocked the Afghan capitalSunday and overnight be-fore Afghan forces regainedcontrol, heightening fearsfor the future of the vulner-able nation as NATO pre-pares to withdraw its130,000 troops.

The Western alliance,which is committed topulling out by the end of2014 whatever happens mil-itarily, put a positive spin onthe attacks, hailing the per-formance of Afghan securityforces. Karzai also praisedthe rapid response byAfghan security forces, say-ing it “proved to the peoplethat they can defend theircountry successfully”.

But his laying of themajor share of the blame ontroops whose home coun-tries are already tired of thelong war and its enormouscost, is unlikely to go downwell with his allies.

The attacks in Kabuland neighbouring provinceskilled 11 members of the se-curity forces and four civil-ians and wounded 32civilians and around 42 se-curity personnel, Karzaisaid.

Thirty-six insurgentswere also killed, the interiorministry said.

“That they did manageto pull off simultaneouscomplex attacks shows quitea level of sophistication inpreventing detection... sothat would be a failure in in-telligence,” said Martine vanBijlert of the AfghanistanAnalysts’ Network.

“But having said that, ina big bustling city like Kabulit is incredibly difficult tostop this type of attack.”

Afghan security forcestook the lead in counteringthe insurgents, who were fi-nally routed early Monday,but a spokesman for NATOforces said they had pro-vided air support in re-sponse to requests from theAfghans.

“I am enormously proudof how quickly Afghan secu-rity forces responded to(the) attacks in Kabul,” saidGeneral John Allen, com-mander of NATO’s Interna-tional Security AssistanceForce (ISAF).

US Ambassador RyanCrocker said the ability ofAfghan forces to respond tothe attacks was a “clear signof progress”, while ISAF la-belled the attacks “largelyineffective”.

However, the fact thatso many militants managedto make it through Kabul’sso-called “Ring of Steel”checkpoints and attackhigh-value targets was apropaganda coup for theTaliban.

afghan taliban says

rehearsed attack

for two months

KABULReUTeRS

The insurgents whomounted weekend attacks incentral Kabul and otherparts of Afghanistan care-fully rehearsed for months,even building small mili-tary-style models and pre-positioning weapons, aTaliban spokesman said onMonday. Zabihullah Mu-jahid provided Reuters witha rare insight into how thegroup plans strategic high-profile attacks designed todeal a psychological blow toUS-led NATO forces andtheir allies in the Afghan se-curity forces.In the latest, a 30-membersuicide squad was dis-patched to launch simulta-neous assaults onparliament, NATO bases andWestern embassies after twomonths of painstaking dis-cussions on tactics.

Candidate with

50% votes

should win: CJPMonitoring Desk

Chief Justice IftikharMuhamamd Chaudhry re-marked on Monday thatonly the candidates who winat least 50 percent of thevotes in the elections shouldbe declared successful, ac-cording to Geo News. He was hearing the electionexpense case on Monday asa part of a three-memberbench of the SupremeCourt. The court also sum-moned the election pollingscheme record for the pastfifty years. The electionCommission gave detailsabout the constituencieswhich had a low voterturnout during the 2008elections.

to announce its ruling onApril 16 over the non-imple-mentation of its orders bythe premier Gilani by notwriting a letter, without get-ting any ones advice, toSwiss authorities for reopen-ing graft cases against Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari.

On Monday, when thespecial bench of JusticeNasirul Mulk, Justice AsifSaeed Khan Khosa, JusticeSarmad Jalal Osmany, Jus-tice ejaz Afzal Khan, JusticeIjaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Jus-tice Gulzar Ahmed and Jus-tice Muhammad AtherSaeed resumed hearing intothe matter, National Ac-countability Bureau’s (NAB)counsel Shaiq Usmani sub-mitted a reply of the primeminister over the matter,wherein Gilani said he wasnot aware that AdnanKhawaja was a convictedperson prior to his appoint-ment as the Oil and Gas De-velopment CompanyLimited (OGDCL) managingdirector. The lawyer said assoon as the premier came toknow about Khawaja’s con-viction, he removed himfrom the post. He said theestablishment secretary hadconcealed facts aboutKhawaja’s conviction fromthe PM.

Justice Asif Saeed KhanKhosa noted that when thePM appointed Khawaja asthe chairman of the NationalVocational Training Com-mission (NAVTeC), hemight have not known aboutKhwaja’s conviction, butwhen he appointed him theOGDCL managing director,he knew well that Khawajawas a convicted person.

NAB’s counsel submit-ted that investigationagainst various people wasunderway.

To a court query, he said

the PM might be an accused.He said despite being

summoned repeatedly, for-mer attorney general MalikMuhammad Qayyum, whowas abroad, did not comeback, thus the investigationhad come to a halt. He said,if needed, red warrants forQayyum would be obtained.

Justice Khosa observedthat there would be rule oflaw and the constitution inthe country, rather than thatof an individual. The courtalso rejected an applicationby PM’s counsel AitzazAhsen in which he pleadedthat no decision should beannounced in the non-im-plementation of NRO caseuntil the decision on presi-dent’s immunity was an-nounced.

“Let me complete the ar-guments in the contemptcase first, otherwise, my ar-guments would be of no useafter a decision on the NROis announced,” Aitzaz said.

Justice Nasirul Mulknoted that the PM had alsorequested to delay the ver-dict in the NRO non-imple-mentation case.

Aitzaz argued that no de-cision could be given by thecourt without properly hear-ing the accused. He con-tended that under Article187 of the constitution, itwas the responsibility of thehigh court to get the apexcourt’s verdicts imple-mented. He contended thatthe apex court could nothear the NRO implementa-tion case.

Meanwhile, the court ex-pressed dissatisfaction overthe NAB report and ad-journed hearing until May 3.

earlier on March 8, thecourt had directed PrimeMinister Gilani to write a let-ter, without getting anyone’sadvice and influence of theongoing contempt proceed-ings, to the Swiss authorities

for reopening corruptioncases against President AsifAli Zardari and submit acompliance report to it onMarch 21. Later on March29, the court said it wouldpass an appropriate order onApril 16 against the primeminister for not writing aletter to the Swiss authori-ties.

In his arguments in con-tempt of court case on Mon-day, Aitzaz said thepresident enjoyed interna-tional immunity and Article10-A, which was about thefundamental rights of thecitizens, could not beusurped and the bench couldnot hear the contempt caseagainst the PM, as it (bench)had taken suo motu noticeinto the matter and initiatedproceedings into it.

Aitzaz said how could wedemand Dr Aafia Siddiqui’srelease from the US “if wesend our president to appearbefore a magistrate abroad”.

The court then said thatan issue of national impor-tance could not be ignored.

Justice Khosa askedAitzaz whether the courtshould continue hearing thecase until the decision.Aitzaz said, “The state mightappeal against it as the courtwas not competent to hearthe case.”

Meanwhile, the court ad-journed hearing in the con-tempt case until today(Tuesday).

Talking to reporterslater, Aitzaz said nobody, in-cluding the judges, wasabove the law. He saidZardari enjoyed interna-tional immunity as long ashe held the office of the pres-ident. He said foreign coun-tries did not present theircommon citizens before anyforeign court, so how couldwe present our president be-fore a magistrate of anothercountry.

ISLAMABADAPP

Acknowledging outstandingcontributions in their re-spective fields, PresidentAsif Ali Zardari on Mondaydistributed prizes amongjournalists and advertisersat the 22nd the All PakistanNewspapers Society(APNS) Awards.

Those who received theawards in journalism wereNadeem Mehmood in thecategory of best investiga-tive reporter, Razia Fareedfor best environmental re-

porter, Mubarak Zeb Khanbest business reporter,Zohra Yusuf best columnenglish, Sardar AhmedPirzada best column Urdu,Ashfaq Azar best columnregional language, MaqboolAhmed best feature eng-lish, Aqeel Abass Jafiri bestfeature Urdu, Wahid ParasHisbani best story regional,Umer Farooq best coverstory, Zahid Rehman bestphotographer, and MuradAli Shah Bukeral receivedthe award for best cartoon.

Best APNS awards forthe advertising agencies

and advertisement in vari-ous categories includedMidas (Pvt) Limited, OrientAdvertising, Adcom, Syn-ergy Advertising and Spec-trum Communications.

Presidential Award forexcellence in Public Rela-tions was given to PrincipalInformation Officer (PIO)Muhammad Saleem, LifeTime Achievement Awardwas given to Pir SufaidShah Hamdard, MasoodAhmed Barkati, Late AbdulRashid Ghazi, MaqsoodHussain Shah and ZiauddinT Kissat.

Heads roll overBannu jail breakg Hoti removes Bannu commissioner, Prisons ig, Dig and jail official

World Bank picks Korean-American Kim as president

pM’s fate hangs in the balance

president awards journalists,

advertisers at 22nd apns awards

“The Afghan FM also askedfor immediate measures byPakistan against the al-leged Taliban sanctuariesin Pakistani tribal areas,including those of Haqqaninetwork,” said a diplomaticsource. He, however, saidthat foreign minister re-jected the notion that Pak-istan was not takingadequate measures againstthe militants in the TribalAreas.The source said the Kabulattack could once againraise tensions between Is-lamabad, Washington andKabul and could harm theongoing efforts betweenthe US and Pakistan for thenormalization of ties in thewake of approval of ‘guide-lines’ on future Pak-US re-lations by parliament.A security official said theclaims that Haqqani net-work could be behind theKabul attack on Sundayseemed to be the continuityof same old allegations lev-eled time and again by offi-cials in Washington andKabul.“It is too early to assumewho has carried out theseassaults but it seems thatAmerican and Afghan au-thorities have made it ahabit now to blame theHaqqanis for every badthing happening in ourneighboring state,” the offi-cial said, seekinganonymity.A Foreign Office statementsaid Ambassador Muntervisited the Foreign Officeand called on Foreign Min-ister Khar.“The foreign minister con-veyed to the US ambassa-dor the importance of theparliamentary process thatexamined Pakistan-US re-lations in the aftermath ofthe Salala incident, and thehistorical nature of demo-cratic ownership of a vitalbilateral relationship forPakistan,” it said.She told the ambassadorthat parliamentary ap-proval for a renewed rela-tionship with the USoffered both countries aunique and unprecedentedopportunity to establish adeeper relationship withone another based onshared values, mutual in-terests and mutual benefit.Another Foreign Officestatement said that ForeignMinister Khar called herAfghan counterpart onMonday. “The foreign minister con-veyed the solidarity of thegovernment and people ofPakistan with their Afghanbrethren on the terroristattacks of Sunday April 15,2012 in which many pre-cious lives were lost,” itsaid.

US, Kabul point

Continued fRom page 1

Continued fRom page 1

Karzai accuses NATO offailure over attacksg NatO insists attacks would not

influence its plans to withdraw

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM


News

SiACheN: A rescue personnel searches on Monday for soldiers buried under the avalanche in Gayari Sector. online

ISLAMABAD iNP

THe Supreme Court onMonday observed that of-ficials were being sacri-ficed to save the skin ofinfluential authorities in

the government.A seven-judge bench comprising

Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice AsifSaeed Khan Khosa, Justice SarmadJalal Osmani, Justice ejaz AfzalKhan, Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry,Justice Gulzar Ahmed and JusticeAthar Saeed, resumed hearing of thesuo motu case regarding progress onthe NRO-related cases.

Reprimanding Shaiq Usmani,counsel for the NAB chairman NAB,Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa saidhe found something concealed in thereports submitted by NAB as it was ageneral practice to make officersscapegoats to save influential person-alities.

Justice Khosa observed that thereport was utterly unsatisfactory andunfair. “No one is above law, howhigh an authority might be, the law ishigher above it,” he added.

He said they had kept pendingcontempt proceedings against thechairman NAB and asked Shaiq Us-mani not to force them to that extent.

He said deliberate efforts were

made to hide facts.“It should be clear that no indi-

vidual will rule this country, only therule of law will prevail,” he added.

The bench directed the NationalAccountability Bureau to submit itsprogress report by May 3 over its di-rection regarding progress on imple-mentation of National ReconciliationOrdinance verdict.

The bench directed NAB to takepositive steps for repatriation ofMalik Qayyum, former attorney gen-eral, and also inform it about the re-sponse of the Pakistan embassy inthe United Kingdom.

It sought all relevant record of thestatements of persons accused in

cases of Adnan A Khwaja and AhmedRiaz Sheikh, two beneficiaries ofNRO.

Shaiq Usmani, counsel for chair-man NAB, appeared and submitted areport regarding investigation intothe two cases.

He apprised that the inquiry inthese cases had been upgraded intoinvestigation and with availability oftangible evidence, the authoritywould submit the cases before thecourt of law.

To bench’s inquiry, he said thatthey had sent a letter to the primeminister seeking his response overthe appointment of Adnan A Khwajaas the OGDCL chairman, which was

denied by his Principal SecretaryKhushnood Akhtar Lashari.

About Malik Qayyum’s case,Shaiq said he was currently beingtreated in the UK for a kidney dis-ease. Dr Abdul Basit, counsel forAdnan A Khwaja and Ahmed RiazSheikh, rose up and objected to pro-ceedings against his clients.

Attorney General for PakistanIrfan Qadir also brought attention ofthe bench to its observation and saidthat one particular channel hadstarted running tickers.

He said that respect of all na-tional institutions like NAB andPrime Minister’ House should beprotected.

president, Coas

visit to siachen

cancelledISLAMABAD

oNliNe

President Asif Ali Zardari and Chief ofArmy Staff Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani onMonday cancelled their visit to Siachendue to the inclement weatherconditions. Spokesperson for thepresident, Senator Farhatullah Babarsaid the president was due to visit theGayari sector in Siachen to expresssolidarity with the army men who werehit by the avalanche. Sources saidpresident and the COAS were alsoscheduled witness the rescue operationthat is being carried out to find the armymen and other civilians who werecaught under the snow. However,President Zardari was advised by theauthorities that the severe weatherconditions in the area were not suitablefor traveling. He will carry on hisroutine engagements at the PresidentHouse today. Sources also said thevisit of a media team to the Gyari sector,organised by the ISPR was alsocancelled due to the weather conditions.

Judges not abovethe law: aitzaz

ISLAMABADoNliNe

Counsel for Prime Minister Yousaf RazaGilani in the contempt of court case,Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan on Monday saidthe bench was not above the law andthose judges who took suo motu noticeswere not eligible for hearing them.Talking to reporters outside theSupreme Court, Aitzaz said PresidentAsif Zardari had an internationalimmunity, until he was the president.“Seven judges cannot hear the case butan eight-member bench can”. He saidduring the proceedings, Article 10-Acame under discussion in the court andhe referred to at least 10 verdicts of thecourt as examples. “I have no objectionon any judge but according to theconstitution, seven out the bench haveno authority to hear the case. I neversaid that the decision of the court maybe declared null and void,” he added.He said President Zardari was an electedhead of state and neither Swiss courtissued him any notice nor anyone gaveapplication. He said Aafia Siddiquishould be brought back and her trial beheld in Pakistan as no country wantedthat its citizens to face cases abroad.

LAHOREoNliNe

Former senator Muhammad Ali Dur-rani has warned the PPP’s coalitiongovernment against moving the 21stAmendment in parliament exclusivelyfor the creation of a Seraiki province.

He has said the people of Ba-hawalpur division will resist any actionthat would be carried out on the basisof hatred and ethnicity.

Addressing a press conference atthe Lahore Press Club, Durrani saidPresident Asif Ali Zardari’s announce-ment regarding the establishment of aSeraiki province was an open violationof the constitution as the law did notempower him to announce or form anew province in the country. Durrani,who is the torch bearer of the Ba-hawalpur division restoration move-ment, lashed out against Zardari in acalculated manner. Sources close to theformer senator and the PML-N said thepress conference was meant to counterZardari’s announcement. The presi-dent during his visit to Multan had an-nounced that the PPP government willcarve out a Seraiki province before thegeneral elections. Durrani said thepresident was a symbol of the federa-

tion and should not propagate ethnicand linguistic hatred, adding thatZardari’s refusal to announce therestoration of Bahawalpur provincehad disheartened the people. The for-mer senator said it was regrettable thatthe president was accompanied byPrime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani inhis “voyage of hatred on linguisticbasis”. He said Gilani was trying to cre-ate “Karachi-like circumstances in thepeaceful region” through his state-

ments. “Zardari and Gilani both arehatching conspiracies against southPunjab as they have failed to controlthe law and order situation in Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and in northern areas.”Durrani said Gilani should refrain from“cultivating the seeds of hatred” insouth Punjab if all parties like thePML-N and the JUI-F had agreed tothe restoration of the Bahawalpurprovince.

durrani warns ppp againstseraiki province creation

US to provide $

110 m for securing

Pakistan’s

western borders ISLAMABAD

oNliNe

The United States (US) will provide $110million to Pakistan in an attempt tosupport its efforts for securing country’swestern borders against drug and othertrafficking. In this regard Waqar MasoodKhan, Secretary, economic Affairs Divisionand Cameron Munter Ambassador ofU.S.A signed an agreement here onMonday. US Government throughNarcotics Affairs Section of US embassywill provide US $ 110 million to ongoingactivities under Border Security, Lawenforcement, judicial Reforms andCounter Narcotics projects to supportGovernment of Pakistan towards its effortsto secure its western borders against drugand other trafficking, militancy, criminalsand other forms of organized cross bordercriminal activity that undermine thesecurity and sovereignty of Pakistan. Theseprogrammes will enhance the capabilitiesof Pakistan civil law enforcement agenciesunder the Ministry of Interior, Ministry ofNarcotics Control and other lawenforcement agencies through theprovision of training, technical assistance,and commodities; and the creation &improvement of infrastructure and training& residential facilities.

Officials being sacrificed to save influentials: SCg special bench says it is a general practice to make officers scapegoats to save powerful personalities

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM


News

SWAT: Students show their acrobatic skills at a local school in Mingora on Monday. online

german teamback fromsiachen rescueoperation

ISLAMABADSTAff RePoRT

The German government supports thePakistani government and is ready toextend its help to find the armyofficials and civilians trapped underthe rubble at the Siachen glacier. Thiswas stated by German embassy’s FirstSecretary and Press and CultureSection Head Dr Thomas Ditt onMonday. He was briefing PakistanToday about the assistance provided bythe German government in tracing the124 soldiers and 11 civilians trappedunder the avalanche. A six-memberGerman technical team remained atSiachen- the world’s toughest battlefiled-for three days to assist thePakistan military in its search andrescue operation. “The Germangovernment sent a rescue team at therequest of the Pakistani government.We are committed to supporting thepeople affected by natural disasterslike the earthquake in Kashmir in2005, the floods that Pakistanexperienced last year and the Siachenincident,” he added. Meanwhile, asix-member team arrived in Islamabadon Monday after taking part in therescue operation at Siachen. Sharingtheir experience, the team memberssaid it was one of the biggestavalanches they have ever seen.equipped with modern gadgets likewire cameras and voice detectors forhearing people trapped under therubble, the team stayed for three-daysat the Gayari Post while it took part inrescue activities. They said the badweather is one of the major hurdles inthe rescue operation. In response to aquery, Florian Weber, a German rescueworker, said it was difficult to predicthow much time the rescuers will taketo pull out the people trapped undertonnes of snow, rocks and stone.Taking about their visit he said, “Therescue operation was a very difficulttask for us and continues to be so forthe people still working at the site. Ourhearts are with those suffering becauseof this disaster,” Weber added. Apartfrom Weber, Bertam Bahr, StephenHeinz, Andreas Schaal, JohannesArnoldi and Thorsten Leisenbergvisited the Siachen glacier to take partin the rescue operation..

india to test new long-range missile this week

NEw DELHIAfP

India hopes this week to jointhe select group of countrieswith intercontinental missilesby holding the first test flight ofa new long-range nuclear-capable rocket, officials saidMonday.

The Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation(DRDO) has scheduled amaiden launch of the Agni-Vmissile, which has a range ofmore than 5,000 kilometres(3,100 miles), betweenWednesday and Friday.

The exact launch date isflexible “because this is ourlongest-range missile and thereare many logistics issues and

hence we don’t plan for oneday,” DRDO spokesman RaviGupta told AFP.

In the latest display ofIndia’s growing military might,the test of the indigenously-developed Agni-V will becarried out from a coastal rangein the eastern state of Orissa.

“Agni-V is a 5,000-pluskilometre range missile and itis to meet our present-daythreat perceptions, which aredetermined by our defenceforces and other agencies,”Gupta said from the test site.

The planned launch comesfour months after Indiasuccessfully tested the Agni-IVmissile, which is capable oftravelling 3,500 kilometres.

India is among the world’s

top 10 military spenders, withJane’s Defence Weeklyforecasting its total purchasesbetween 2011 and 2015 will top$100 billion.

It traditionally seesneighbours Pakistan and Chinaas its prime external threats.

Military spending wasboosted by 17 percent to $40billion in last month’s budget,following a 12 percent increasethe previous year.

India has fought three warswith arch-rival Pakistan sinceindependence in 1947, butChina is now viewed as themain focus of India’s ambitiousmilitary plans.

The border between Indiaand China has been the subjectof inconclusive diplomatic talks

since the 1980s after the twonations fought a brief butbrutal war in 1962.

The Agni-V would in theorybe able to strike targets acrossAsia and some parts of europe.

Only China, Russia, France,the United States, Great Britainand Israel are thought to havesuch long-distance missiles.

India conducted a string ofatomic detonations in 1998 anddeclared itself a nuclear-weapons state but it refuses tosign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The test plan has notattracted the internationalcriticism aimed at reclusiveNorth Korea, which last weekcarried out a rocket test thatended in failure.

ISLAMABADoNliNe

THe federalgovernment onMonday formallyannounced the newwedlock policy

under which a husband andwife working in the publicsector would be able to servein one city and the femaleteachers on deputation couldperform their duties inIslamabad for an indefinitetime period.

Addressing a gathering ofteachers in Islamabad,Ambassador for Womenempowerment Fiza BatoolGilani said the PPP was acting

on the vision of BenazirBhutto.

“The empowerment ofwomen”, she said, “was adream of Benazir Bhutto.Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)is working to envision andturn that dream into realityby empowering women.”

Announcing the decisionof Federal Government, Fizasaid she was happy on thisday. “I am feeling proudtoday to achieve the goal andcross a milestone of givinghusband/wife right to work inthe same city. This decisionwill strengthen the familybonds and will, no doubtlessen the problems womenface while their husbands are

working far away from theirhomes”.

She paid a tribute toBenazir for her leadershipand recalled her struggles forthe empowerment of women.

Talking about the wedlockdecision, she said the wedlockpolicy needed a necessarychange. “It was not just amatter of continuing servicein Islamabad but it infact wasthe matter of hundreds offamilies who suffer whenhusbands work in a city andwife in another one”.

At the end she alsothanked prime minister forconsidering the matter as aserious issue and allowing herto resolve it.

Bangladesh senior ministerresigns in graft scandal

DHAKAAfP

Bangladesh’s railway ministerresigned on Monday amid a graftscandal in which his personalsecretary and two officials werefound with seven million taka($86,000) in cash. SuranjitSengupta denied accusations thatthe money was bribes fromapplicants seeking jobs on the state-run Bangladesh Railway, but he saidhe was resigning to “bolsterdemocracy”. Sengupta, a veteranpolitician and lawyer, told a pressconference that his decision wouldallow a full probe into theallegations. “I am stepping downeven though I was not involved inthe incident. A lot of people think if Istay at the helm of the ministry, theinvestigation could be influenced,”he said. His resignation came afterhis secretary and two officials werebriefly detained last week at aparamilitary camp in Dhaka with thecash, which they had in a minibus.The three told local media they wereheading to Sengupta’s house withthe money. The incident hasembarrassed the government ofPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whosummoned Sengupta to her office onSunday after returning from a visitto Turkey. The government hasfallen in popularity in recent monthsdue to soaring food prices, a cut inenergy subsidies and a series of graftallegations. Bangladesh’s nextnational election is due to be held byearly 2014.

Commission quizzes

defence minister on

abbottabad operationISLAMABAD

STAff RePoRT

The Inquiry Commission on AbbottabadOperation on Monday quizzed Ministerfor Defence Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtarabout the covert operation conducted byUS special forces in Abbottabad on May2, 2011. The commission which met hereat the Cabinet Division under thechairmanship of Justice Javed Iqbal, thepresident of the commission, was alsoattended by Abbas Khan, IG (r) Police,former ambassador Ashraf JehangirQazi, and Lt Gen (r) Nadeem Ahmed.

New wedlock policy announced

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM

tuesday, 17 april, 2012

Sheesha fans, Section 144’s

coming your way

07

With the mercury rising steadily, this muddy pool of water in gulistan-e-Jauhar is a source of some relief from heat to the boys. iMran ali

KARACHIAAMiR MAJeed

LAW enforcement agen-cies (LeAs) have post-poned the operationsagainst notorious crimi-nals in Lyari after in-

juries to four people, including twominors and a woman, due to “fir-ing from unidentified miscreants”on Monday.

earlier in the day, the law en-forcers launched a search opera-tion in the Singho Lane,Chakiwara, Lyari against UzairJan Baloch, Habib Baloch andZafar Baloch.

As they entered the neigh-bourhood in armoured personnelcarriers (APCs), they were at-tacked by unidentified miscreants,who resorted to heavy shelling atthe APCs from all directions.

During the attack, four peopleincluding two girls and a womansuffered bullet wounds. The in-jured were taken to the Civil Hos-

pital Karachi (CHK), where doc-tors stated their condition to bestable.

The attack forced the LeA per-sonnel to retreat and postpone theoperation.

Talking with Pakistan Today,SP City Town Nasir Aftab said thatpolice had information on pres-ence of three most-wanted crimi-nals of Lyari namely Uzair, Habiband Zafar in the office of WahidNazim, a renowned businessmanof Lyari.

The raid was launched by po-lice in collaboration with CriminalInvestigation Department (CID)and Special Investigation Unit(SIU) against the three most-wanted criminals of Lyari, headded.

The police officer said thatthe injured people were identi-fied as seven-year-old Laiba,daughter of Shahnawaz; nine-year-old Sawera, daughter ofAbdul Aziz; Gul Bibi, 60, wife ofMuhammad; and 45-year-old

man Muhammad Ali.“When LeAs realised that the

miscreants had started targetinginnocent people, the LeAs de-cided to retreat to avoid loss ofprecious lives,” he said. “Thecriminals were present there, butwe cannot afford the loss of pre-cious lives.”

Talking to Pakistan Today,Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)Lyari leader Zafar Baloch – a tar-get of LeAs operation – allegedthat teams of CID, SIU and policeopened indiscriminate firing fromtheir APCs.

“I was not present there, butUzair was engaged in an interviewwith an international televisionchannel. He was briefing the for-eign journalists about the prevail-ing law and order situation in thetown as the LeAs opened fire inthe town,” Zafar said.

“The residents retaliated overthe attack from police and duringthe brief gun battle, four peoplewere injured,” he added.

It was earlier reported thatHabib along with the PAC leader-ship was booked in a murder caseof a policeman in Lyari. They were

accused of involvement in the ab-duction and murder of ConstableRaj Mohammad.

FIR No 91/12 under sections

302/34, 365 and 109 of the Pak-istan Penal Code and Article 7 ofthe Anti-Terrorism Act was regis-tered at the Kalri police station.

After four hurt in attack, police call off Lyari raids■ two girls, one woman among four suffer bullet wounds during search operation against Uzair Baloch, Habib Baloch and Zafar Baloch

Pillion riding

ban challenged

in SHCKARACHI

iMdAd SooMRo

The ban on motorcycle pillion riding in thecity was challenged in the Sindh High Court(SHC) on Monday.

The Sindh government’s Home Depart-ment has imposed a ban on pillion riding onmotorcycles due to the deteriorating law andorder situation.

Human rights activist Rana Faizul Hasanfiled the constitutional petition in person be-fore the SHC, praying the court to declare theorder as illegal and unconstitutional, as it isagainst the articles of constitution 4, 5 and 25.

Citing the Sindh Home Department as arespondent, the petitioner submitted thatpeople are facing hardship due to the ban onpillion riding.

Terming the order “financial murder ofapproximately 2 million citizens belonging tothe poor and middle class”, he prayed that thecourt declare pillion riding ban as unlawfuland direct the government to lift the restric-tion immediately. The petitioner had submit-ted that pillion riding was banned in the pastowing to the rise in street crimes, burglariesand terrorism across the city, but no improve-ment has been witnessed.

KARACHIAfTAB ChANNA

The Frontier Constabulary (FC)soldiers deployed at 27 prisons inSindh are on a high-alert afterthe jilbreak in Bannu, where Tal-iban militants stormed the jail onSunday to release hundreds ofprisoners.

“We have put the FC on high-alert and instructed the Sindh In-spector General of Prisons througha letter to take extraordinary stepsfor the security of jails,” Sindh Lawand Prisons Minister Ayaz Soomrotold a group of journalists at hisoffice on Monday.

He said the jail superintend-ents have been directed to ensureround-the-clock check on inmates.“We are also computerising therecord of all the prisoners,” headded.

The use of cellular phones hasbeen banned in jails and a PublicCall Office system introduced tofacilitate inmates to talk to theirfamilies.

To a question, Soomroreplied that around 1,000 hard-ened criminals are present in dif-ferent jails of the province,particularly Karachi Central Jail,District Malir Jail, HyderabadCentral Jail and Sukkur Jail, and

all four prisons have been de-clared highly sensitive.

“FC personnel were postedat jails in Sindh a long timeago but the provincial govern-ment plans to form its own jailpolice to save hundreds of mil-lions of rupees being spent onthe paramilitary force,” theminister said.

Responding to a questionabout Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz’sprotests, Soomro suggested thatthe group of late nationalistleader Bashir Qureshi shouldmove the court for seeking per-mission, as required under law,for carrying out the analysis of

viscera taken from the deceased’sbody. After the court’s permis-sion, they can get it analysedfrom the Aga Khan laboratory orany other lab.

About the local governmentelections, he said that local bodypolls cannot be held unless the de-limitations of constituencies aredone in view of the increased pop-ulation.

The minister also criticised theSindh National Front chief Mum-taz Bhutto’s for joining hands withthe Sharif brothers, who are sup-porters of Kalabagh Dam.

“There is ample proof thatBhutto has been befooling the peo-

ple of Sindh on the name of na-tionalism,” he claimed.

Describing Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz and its leaders as

political orphans, Soomro said theNawaz Sharif regime treated Sindhand Sindhis in a step motherlyway.

With Bannu jail in mind, sindh ‘high-alerts’ fC at prisons■ Karachi Central Jail, District Malir Jail, Hyderabad Central Jail and Sukkur Jail declared highly sensitive

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM

karachi08PakistaN today


indonesian artistes perform during a cultural event held at the DHa golf Club’s Convention Hall. the colourful event was organised

by Consulate general of indonesia rossalis adenan and attended by Sindh assembly Speaker Nisar Khuro, Culture Minister Sassui

Palijo, iranian Consul general ali abbas abdullahi, Sri Lankan Consul general DW Jinadasa and Deputy High Commissioner of

Bangladesh roohul alam Siddique among others. staff photo

KARACHIiMdAd SooMRo

The Sindh govern-ment has imposedSection 144 in fivedistricts of upperSindh, Sukkur,

Ghotki, Shikarpur, Jacoba-bad and Kashmore, for aten-day period starting fromtoday (Tuesday).

The move is a precau-tionary measure to avoid anyuntoward incident in reac-tion to the expected verdictof the Supreme Court onApril 18 (tomorrow) over theforced conversion case ofRinkle Kumari.

The imposition of Sec-tion 144 from April 17 toApril 27 prohibits any kind

of rallies, display of weaponsand other social and politicalactivities in the five districts.

According to the parentsof Kumari, the woman wasabducted by Naveed Shah.

The man, however,claims that the Hindu girlwilfully embraced Islam andgot married with him

The matter was pro-ceeded in local courts andthen at the Sukkur circuitbench of Sindh High Courtand its principle bench inKarachi. After the suo motuof Supreme Court of Pak-istan, the case was trans-ferred to the apex court.

At the previous hearing,the Supreme Court afterrecording the Kumari’sstatement postponed the

hearing for two weeks.Insiders at the Sindh

Home Department told Pak-istan Today that to avoid anylaw and order situation orreaction after SupremeCourt’s verdict either fromthe Muslims or the Hinducommunity, the provincialgovernment imposed theSection 144 in the five upperSindh districts.

It is worth to mentionthat civil society activists,Sindhi nationalist partiesand the Hindu communityhave taken out many ralliesin favour of the relatives ofKumari; whereas, while therightwing parties have takenout rallies in favour of the al-leged abductor across theprovince.

For 10 days, assemblies prohibited infive districts

rinKle KUMari Case

two bodies recoveredKARACHI

STAff RePoRT

Two tortured and bullet-riddled bodies of youthwere recovered from theAllahwala Town in Korangion Monday.

Korangi Industrial Areapolice said that on being

informed of two suspiciousgunny bags, a police teamwent to Allahwala Townand recovered two deadbodies, which were shiftedto the Jinnah PostgraduateMedical Centre (JPMC).

Korangi Industrial AreaSHO Malik Saleem said thedeceased were identified as

Abdul Rehman, 18, son ofGhafoor and Noor Hussain,20, son of Hussain. Thevictims had been kid-napped from Korangi, Sec-tor 48-A.

He said the affiliationof the victims with any po-litical or religious partycould not be established.

dance for a CauseKARACHI

STAff RePoRT

The city’s largest and oldestcentre for arts and wellness,ActOne, recently conducted aflash mob ‘Dance for a Cause 5’at the SUIT spring festival heldat the PAF Museum.

It was one of the largestflash mobs ever conducted inKarachi, with about 2,000 par-ticipants from all ages. Thedance sequences were choreo-graphed by Talal Rehman andDuranda Davies.

“This was clearly the mostexciting Dance for a Causeevent that ActOne has con-ducted ever,” said AsmaAnsari, a partner at ActOne.“It’s a rare sight to see so manyyoungsters dancing togetherand having fun.”

‘Dance for a Cause’ events

are flash mobs conducted byActOne to help raise funds forvarious causes including SIUTand the Rahnuma SchoolingProject.

ActOne is at the forefrontof all such initiatives inKarachi. It is the city’s oldest

and most prestigious centre forarts and wellness.

Besides being a regular atconducting flash mobs andother BTL activities, ActOneinstructors also conductclasses including hip hop, Bol-lywood dance workout, yoga

and power yoga at their studioon Khayaban-e-Shahbaz.

Dance for a Cause 4 wasconducted at the Indus ValleySchool of Art and Architecture,where about 300 peopledanced to the song “MovesLike Jagger” by Maroon 5.

Sheesha fans, Section 144’scoming your way

KARACHIAPP

Karachi CommissionerRoshan Ali Shaikh has di-rected all deputy and assis-tant commissioners to ensurestrict enforcement of Section144 imposed by the provincialgovernment on sheeshasmoking in the city.

“Indiscriminate actionshould be taken against allhotels, restaurants and jointsoffering sheesha to the peo-ple,” said the commissioner

in a meeting on Monday.He said it is the joint re-

sponsibility of parents, teach-ers and the cityadministration to see thatyouth, including students, areprotected from habits that aredetrimental to their healthand social wellbeing.

The commissioner alsourged the media to realise andeducate the public against haz-ards of sheesha smoking thatare far more dangerous thanother modes of smoking andtobacco consumption.

“There is an urgency tomake people realise that

s h e e s h asmoking is nei-ther fashion-able norsafe,” he said.“Sheesha smok-ing leads to drugaddition is fre-quently men-tioned by theh e a l t h c a r eproviders andcannot beignored.”

Models display creations from tabassum Mughal at the Bridal Couture Week 2012. iMran ali

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM

karachi 09PakistaN today


‘Mohajir province demand raised to counterSeraiki province’

‘Bonds’ must bedeclared narcotic items,urge medics

KARACHIAPP

Medical professionals have urged the government todeclare the liquid adhesives called bonds as narcoticitems and restrict its availability so as to prevent theloss of neuromuscular coordination among childrenby sniffing them.

In a programme organised by the KONPAL ChildAbuse Prevention Society, a non-governmental or-ganisation comprising child specialists, they saidthat people in general and policymakers in particularmust realise that substance abuse has emerged asa serious health threat for children and the youth.

They resolved that cooperation at all levels forthe protection of children, be they abandoned orsemi-abandoned street children or their fortunatecounterparts living in comparatively safe environs.

Participants of the programme, including doctors,nurses and other paramedics, also urged all theprovincial education departments to adopt a strin-gent policy to combat corporal punishment, whichcould have severe physical and psychological conse-quences for children.

The healthcare providers were unanimous in theirappeal for an immediate ban on the sale of junk foodas well as hazardous items such as sweetened supari(betel nuts), cigarette and paan masala (a concoc-tion of betel leaves and chemicals) on school prem-ises and within a mile radius of every school.

They said that junk food comprising high carbo-hydrates and fat items with low content of or no es-sential nutrients has led to a surge in diseasespreviously unheard of in children. They expressedtheir reservations regarding carbonated drinks aswell.

As for paan and chhalia (betel nuts), they saidthat the two are directly linked to instances of mouthcancer, besides other health conditions.

KARACHIAPP

The Karachi School for Busi-ness and Leadership (KSBL)is organising a two-day exec-utive education programmeon creating high-perfor-mance teams.

An announcement issuedon Monday said that the pro-gramme would be conductedon Tuesday (today) and

Wednesday by Dr MilanPagon, Professor of Manage-ment at the College of Busi-ness Studies of the AlGhurair University in Dubai.

The course has been de-signed for top- and middle-management executives whohave significant people-man-agement responsibilitiesacross both the public andprivate sectors and wouldprovide insights into building

high-performance teamsthrough state-of-the-art re-search in neuroscience andorganisational behaviour,said the organisers of theprogramme.

This programme is de-signed to help increase thelevel of understanding ofgroup dynamics in organisa-tions, help develop new per-spectives on how to manageteams and create engage-

ment, and help develop anunderstanding of effectiveteam building, they added.

Dr Milan Pagon is alsocurrently involved with theUniversity of Iowa’s neuro-leadership development pro-gramme in Italy.

He has, in the past,taught in the USA at the Uni-versity of Iowa and the Uni-versity of Arkansas as well asthe University of Maribor in

Slovenia.His areas of research are

leadership competencies andstress management, and hispapers have been publishedin The Academy of Manage-ment Journal, Journal of Or-ganisational Behaviour, andApplied Psychology amongothers. He is also a memberof the editorial boards ofStress and Health, and of theNeuro-Leadership Journal.

HYDERABADAPP

THe demand of the Mo-hajir province has sur-faced to prevent thecreation of the Seraikiprovince, said Federal

Water & Power Minister SyedNavid Qamar.

He said this while addressingthe media during a ceremony to in-augurate a road in the Hanif Bajwavillage of Tando Muhammad Khan.

The minister said that the es-tablishment of the Seraiki provincewas a long-time demand of theSeraiki people and that all the polit-

ical parties supported it.“The Mohajir province issue is

being raised to thwart the Seraikiprovince,” he said, adding that anew province could be made only inthe Punjab province.

About the energy shortfall andthe long hours of electricity loadshedding being carried out acrossthe country, he said that the gov-ernment is continuously addingnew projects to the national grid,but at the same time, the demand ofelectricity is also increasing.

“We shall buy 300 megawatts to500 megawatts of power fromIndia. The project will be finalisedin about six months,” he added.

He projected an increase inpower production from the damsthat would get more water due tothe recent rains and ice fall in theupper catchments of the IndusRiver.

However, he emphasised theneed of energy conservation, whichis important in conjunction withenergy production. He said thatwindmills would be set up in Gharoand Jati for energy production.

Talking about the recent hike inthe prices of gas and petroleumproducts, the minister said that nogovernment, especially one which isin the election year, could afford toincrease the prices.

According to him, the govern-ment was compelled to increase theprices because of the rise in oilprices in the international market.

He said that the meteorologistsare expecting heavy rainfall thisyear in the monsoon season and theneed of the hour is to chalk out astrategy to deal with the climatic ef-fect.

The minister was accompaniedby Deputy Commissioner BarkatAhmed Rizvi and leaders of thePakistan People’s Party.

earlier, he had inaugurated a 3-kilometre road constructed at thecost of Rs 12.2 million in the villageof Hanif Bajwa.

KSBL’s executive education programmestarts today

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM

karachiPakistaN today

WEatHEr UPDatES

Low

35°CHigh

23°C 41%Humidity

WEDNESDay tHUrSDay FriDay35°C i 23°C 29°C i 22°C 32°C i 21°C

PrayEr tiMiNgS

Starting time in Karachi

Fajr Sunrise Zuhr asr Maghrib isha

4:49 6:07 12:32 4:01 5:56 8:15

City DirECtOry

POLiCE 15

BOMB DiSPOSaL 15, 99212667

FirE BrigaDE 16, 99215007, 99215008

EDHi 115, 32310066-2310077

KHiDMat-E-KHaLq FOUNDatiON 36333811

rED CrESCENt 35833973

gOvErNOr’S HOUSE 136

CHiEF MiNiStEr’S HOUSE 99202051

MOtOrWay POLiCE 130

EMErgENCy HELP

HOSPitaLS

aBBaSi SHaHEED 99260400-09

CiviL 99215749, 99215960

JiNNaH 99201300-39

NiCvD 99201271-6

aga KHaN 34930051

taBBa 36811841-50

BLOOD BaNK

HUSSaiNi 32238405-8

FatiMiD 32225284, 32258656

PWa 99215740, 32735214

COMPLaiNt

KESC 118

PtCL 1218

KWSB 1339

CDgK 134

SUi gaS 1199, 99231603

raiLWayS

iNqUiry 117, 99213565-6

City StatiON 99213538

CaNtt StatiON 99201118

airPOrt

FLigHt iNqUiry 114

Pia rESErvatiON 111786786

COLLEgES / UNivErSitiES

KaraCHi UNivErSity 99261300-06

NED UNivErSity 99261261-8

FUUaSt 99244141-9

DUHS 99215754-7

SMiC 99217501-3

FaSt-NU 111128128, 34100541-7

SZaBiSt 111922478

iOBM 35090961-7

iBa 111422422

ivS 35861039-40

Hypertension a growing

health problem for Pakistanis

GRoUP ShoW

A group art exhibition from April17 to 24 at the Grandeur artgallery. Call 35435744 for moreinformation.

ART EXHIBITIONSTARTS APRIL 17 AT 5:00 PMVENUE: GRANDEUR

The GoldeN ColleCTioN

Art exhibition titled ‘The GoldenCollection’ from April 19 to 26 atthe Unicorn Gallery. Call 35831220for more information.

ART EXHIBITIONSTARTS APRIL 19 AT 6:00 PMVENUE: UNICORN GALLERY

GhAliB MAde eASY

‘Ghalib Made easy: InteractiveSessions with Musharraf AliFarooqi’ at The 2nd Floor. Call35389033 for more information.

POETRYON APRIL 18 AT 7:00 PMVENUE: T2F 2.0


KARACHIAPP

A function was held to celebrateWorld Book Day at the Defence Au-thority Degree College for WomenPhase-VIII on Monday.

Qudsia Akbar, a former presi-dent of the Arts Council of Pakistan,Karachi, was the chief guest on theoccasion. She highlighted the impor-tance of reading books for develop-ment of one’s personality. Qudsiasaid that books impart knowledge,enhance one’s vision and bring avivid transformation in life.

She added that a book is the bestand most trustworthy companion inlife. Qudsia said that there is a direneed of promoting culture of read-ing, as it brings refinement, toler-ance and accommodation in society.

She stressed that the same is es-sential to combat the prevalent waveof militancy, extremism and violencethat has engulfed the country.

Defence Central Library Secre-tary Col (retd) Rafat Naqvi said thatthe strength of a nation depends onits intellectual and literary prowess.

He stressed the need of having anetwork of public libraries in thecommunity for making a progres-sive, dynamic and confident nation.

Naqvi elaborated that there is

very little in the way of humanachievement, knowledge or wisdomthat is not confined between the cov-ers of a book.

He said that through books, onecould have contact with the greatestminds ever produced, roll back thecenturies and peer into the future,and get inspiration and intellectualstrength. A declamation contest wasalso held on the occasion, in whichstudents made eloquent and thought-provoking speeches highlighting thesignificance of reading books and itsimpact on human behaviour.

An innovative documentary filmprepared by the Library Science De-partment of the college was alsoshown.

earlier, the Principal, ProfSamia Sadia, highlighted in her wel-come address the achievements ofthe college in the field of academicsand other co-curricular activities.

She commended the Library Sci-ence Department of the college fororganising a literary and informativefunction in a befitting manner.

At the end, the chief guest dis-tributed prizes and certificatesamong the winners of the declama-tion contest. A large number of stu-dents, faculty members andprominent citizens had attended thefunction.

KARACHIAPP

HYPeRTeNSION orhigh blood pressure,an asymptomatic dis-ease and one of thecommonest chronic

ones, affects one out of every threePakistanis over the age of 45 years.

Talking to APP on Monday, doc-tors said that high blood pressure isa major health problem in Pakistan,as more than half of the people overthe age of 65 are estimated to be hy-pertensive.

They observed with concern thatmore than 50 percent of the patientsdo not have a clear concept aboutthe treatment of high blood pres-sure.

Dr Almas Khan said that highblood pressure, a health condition initself, is also the root cause for sev-eral other serious diseases.

“Yet a large majority of the peo-ple consider no need for a long-termtreatment for the condition and,therefore, are exposed to high risk,”she commented.

Dr Shiraz supplementing his col-league said that high blood pressuremust be taken seriously, as it is a“silent killer”.

elaborating his stance, the gen-eral physician said that the silentkiller equally affects the heart, brain,kidneys, eyes and peripheral arteries

of the person with high blood pres-sure.

He opined that the most signifi-cant step towards decreasing theenormous morbidity and mortalitydue to high blood pressure is tomake sure that every person whocomes in contact with a healthcareprovider has his or her blood pres-sure checked.

Dr Abbas Rizwan recommendedthe need to launch a comprehensiveoutreach programme to improvehigh blood pressure control nation-wide.

He stressed that high bloodpressure must be diagnosed andtreated appropriately and for thevery purpose, blood pressure mustbe monitored carefully and cor-rectly.

“Only three percent of Pakistanipatients with high blood pressurehave their blood pressure appropri-ately controlled,” he said.

The physicians, highlighting theimportance of proper managementof the condition, were unanimousthat once a person has been diag-nosed with high blood pressure, thefirst thing required to be done isbringing about changes in lifestyle.

Reduction in body weight andadoption of an eating plan that com-prises foods mainly containing min-erals like potassium, calcium andmagnesium, besides fibre, are saidto be crucial.

Restricted consumption of di-etary sodium (salt), regular exer-cises, moderation in alcoholconsumption, smoking cessation arealso said to be extremely relevant.

“It is after these prerequisites

that drug therapy plays its role,which again depends upon theseverity of high blood pressure,” saidDr Almas.

Women’s college celebratesWorld Book day

Partialy Cloudy

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM

Editor’s mail 11tuesday, 17 april, 2012

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-36298302. E-mail: [email protected]. Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively.

Mandir propertyKarachi is the largest city, the main

seaport and financial centre of Pakistan.Currently, the city has an estimated pop-ulation of 21 million which was slightlyunder half a million, out of which 51 per-cent were Hindus and 42 percent wereMuslims at the time of Partition of India.Now Hindus are about 1.45 percent(3,00,000) of city population, preserving50 mandirs in different parts of the citywhich were once more than 450 inKarachi before the partition; as most ofthem have been illegally occupied or de-molished.

Out of 50 available temples, only twoare nationally famous and attract Hindusfrom all over Pakistan where others arecommunity based temples. These twoimportant mandirs are Swami Narainmandir opposite to KMC Building at M AJinnah Road and Ratneshwar Mahadevmandir Clifton adjacent to JanagirKothari Parade. These mandirs are theonly places for Hindus of Karachi to cele-brate the religious rituals like Diwali,Holi, Ram Navami, Janmastami,Dussehra and Hinglaj.

Ratneshwar Mahadev temple atClifton was constructed more than 150years ago in a cave of a hill near seasideof Clifton which is now locked withparks; not only car parking has occupiedits land but also the proper way or pas-sage to entrance was demolished in2005. earlier, there was sufficient carparking and proper way to mandir whichwe and our forefathers used. every year aGrand Mela (Fair) of Lord Shiva is heldfor three days on eve of Maha Shiva Ratriwhich is well attended by 25,000 peopleevery day for worship. On every Monday,5000 people and about 1000 peoplecome daily for worship and parsad (sa-cred food) which is offered free.

This mandir has been converted intoan isolated place by changing car parkinginto a seasonal flower exhibition park bythe City Government. With parking formore than a kilometre radius, attendancein mandir is going to be less every day; ifwe park vehicles on the road side, vehi-cles are lifted and heavy fines are im-posed and in many case they are stolen.People come here for peace of mind tem-ple but without sufficient parking space,we are not at peace any more.

In view of the above, we Hindus, thelargest religious minority of Pakistan de-mand that car parking should be restoredas a reserved community parking and thefront should be declared as mandir prop-erty as a safeguard to religious propertiesas well as indigenous people’s rights inconformity with the UN charter andQuaid-e-Azam’s vision of Pakistan.

KALAVANTI RAJA MENGHWARKarachi

a note for WapdaA few nights ago, power went off and

came back in just a few seconds, and thishappened twice. This is most damagingfor electrical equipment. The runningpressure in a compressor of an air condi-tioner or a freezer is 300 pounds persquare inch. It takes three minutes forthis pressure to equalise when the com-pressor is shut down. If the compressoris restarted while the pressure is stillhigh and has not had time to equalise,the compressor motor will get over-loaded and could burn out. Power shouldbe switched on only three minutes afterit has tripped, never in a few seconds.

ENGR KHURSHID ANWERLahore

Seraiki provinceNone other than the president of

Pakistan has declared the making ofSaraiki province now. One does notknow which statement issued by Zardariis that of as the President of Pakistan oras Co-chairman of Pakistan PeoplesParty (PPP) or even as a commoner?

Recently, he went to India as a pri-vate visitor. earlier, he went to Myan-mar with his family as a private visitor.Assefa decorated the leader with Nis-han-e-Imtiaz. Anyway, confused as weare with this innovative set up, we areentering into province-making era now.Let us, by the stroke of pen, also makeHazarra province. Hazarra people aresuffering in Hazarra, in Quetta and inKarachi. Karachi is a continuous placeof suffering.

MQM are the greatest victim ofthese atrocities. Karachi should be de-clared as a province, including Hyder-abad. FATA is the epicentre of allterrorism. Let FATA people managetheir province. By the way, Saraikiprovince should have Muzzafargarsh,Bhakhar right upto Mianwali belt in-cluded.

This will solve Imran Khan’s prob-lem also. Three out of 140 odd tribes inBalochistan are trouble makers (so saysthe genius Musharraf). Let us declareBugti, Mengal and Kallat as a provincetoo. These provinces will solve all theailing diseases of Pakistan. Of course,the demand of Bahawalpur province isthat of Shahbaz Sharif. Why depriveDurrani of his demand backed by Shar-ifs?

Let Pakistan have governors andCMs and army of cabinet and advisorsand special assistants. Pakistan’s ad-ministrative budget will then be fi-nanced by IMF and ADB together.

We already have swollen federalcabinet, advisors and special assistants.Japan should supply 1500 or more newToyotas. Germany should already bookorder for 100 BMWs or Mercs and about2000 more Cruisers and Double Cabinsfor the entourage.

We need 15 Lear jets and muchmore to facilitate new comers. This for-mula is a lot easier to win the electionthan holding stupid public rallies ofthousands of hundreds of poor peopleas is being done by Imran Khan. PPP isa genius under the command of Zardari.

AMJAD H MIRZALahore

(II)President Zardari has vowed to cre-

ate Seraiki province, dividing the Pun-jab province into two, and has advisedthe government to establish SeraikiBank, which seems to be a move to-wards that goal.

Unfortunately the Chaudhrys of Gu-jrat and some other politicians both in-dividually and on party levels,particularly who have aligned with thePPP government, are seemingly helpingthe move to turn the Southern part intoa province.

either they are not aware that this isaimed at not only weakening the politi-cal base and ending the political domi-nance of Punjab, but also to pose dent tothe economic structure, water distribu-tion and industrial development ofwhich Punjab is considered the back-bone. even the PML-N is very muchvocal and of late favouring the makingof more provinces.

This is going to open Pandora’s Boxand the demand of Hazara province,Jinnahpur, making FATA a separateprovince, and dividing Balochistan intovarious provinces will lead to virtualbreakup of the country.

In fact the region can be subjugatedby simply dividing Pakistan into moreprovinces, and there is no need to con-duct any direct attack, denuclearize thenation, dismantle its army or cripple itseconomy under the said to be interna-tional conspiracy of reshaping the entireregion and redrawing the maps.

The economy of Punjab, its man-power, skilled workmanship and agri-culture produce are not only thebackbone of the defence of the country,but also the security of Pakistan. Thisneeds to be understood by the politicalleadership, the government and the se-curity establishment. Particularly thetiming is not appropriate for such amove.

ALYA ALVIRawalpindi

Sindh is sufferingThe Sindh province still faces enor-

mous socio-economic challenges. How-ever, I want to single out five chronicsocioeconomic issues which need an im-mediate attention of the rulers to upliftthe life and living standards of the peoplein the province. These include: Sindhprovince’s land, health, poverty, educa-tion and law and order situation.

Sindh province’s land is facing seri-ous problem of water logging and salinityand also acute shortage of water to irri-gate the fertile and rich land in morethan fifty percent area of the province.The past successive regimes did nothingto align, improve and upgrade the water-courses, water channels, canals, barragesand rivers.

Shockingly, all these are being pol-luted with the industrial and urban

waste. Numerous trees along with thebanks of canals and barrages are beingruthlessly chopped and not even a singlenew sapling is planted along the canals,water channels, water courses, roads andhighways. It is totally different that theofficial record of the concerned depart-ments shows that every years millions ofsapling have been planted there.

If the present government sincerelyimproves and upgrades the watercourses,channels, canals and rivers, I am confi-dent that then even a single drop of waterwill not go waste and moreover, thoseareas which are in the grip of paucity ofwater, both for drinking and irrigationpurposes, would emerge as the “food andfruit basket” of the country.

The government must direct the con-cerned departments to use the public sec-

tor money uprightly and judiciously inthe development and up-gradation ofcanals and watercourse instead of misap-propriating and embezzling.

epidemic and preventable diseaseshave devastated the province. There arehardly any hospitals or doctors at Talukaand district level.

even if there are some, they are de-prived of all resources including skilledand unskilled manpower, professionalssuch as doctors and paramedical staff,medicines, logistics, and material re-sources. The facts and figures are alarm-ing about the death toll due topreventable diseases.

Millions of Sindhis live in grindingpoverty. What's the government doing tobring prosperity to the people and is itworking? Can the gap between the rich

and the poor be bridged?Hundreds of schools and colleges,

which were shut during the past succes-sive regimes, are still shut. Pitiably, manymore schools don't even have basic facili-ties and the required number of teachers.

There is neither law nor order in theprovince. If anybody is safe and secure, itis either police itself or the elected repre-sentatives called “MPAs and MNAs”, orthose people who have come to settle inSindh.

The Sindhi intelligentsia has startedthinking on this question: Sindhis sufferduring the democratic dispensation inthe country. If democracy is the best re-venge, who or from whom this revenge isbeing exacted?

HASHIM ABROIslamabad

Taliban’s spring offensiveThe jailbreaks in Afghanistan’s Kandahar and Pakistan’s

Bannu may have similarities and its timing with the reported‘spring offensive’ by Taliban in Afghanistan may also have agreat significance, but the question is whether this is going tobe used as a case against Pakistan or it is a genuine moveagainst the occupation forces. It is said that the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) men are regularly shown Hollywoodaction movies that stir not only the emotions but also provideenough guidance as to how to conduct similar operations in asensational way. They reportedly blocked all the inroads be-fore entering the jail so that the police or security forces couldnot briskly react.

While going back too they had the capacity to remove andrecreate hurdles in order to make sure that no chase could bemade. The attack and release of 384 prisoners, includingsome most-wanted and high-profile terrorists, has estab-lished that the war fought during the last many years and sac-rifices by thousands of personnel, men and women, eldersand children have gone waste. Secondly this has establishedthat the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Afghan Taliban haveeither connections or part of Al-Qaeda and Taliban, or all thegroups operating separately are actually one and the same.

This incident is a reminder that if a jail in settled area canbe broken so easily and audaciously, then anything can bedone on this pattern as it is widely propagated that Pakistan’s

nuclear arsenal can go into the hands of terrorists. Though the authorities claim that this is not possible,

given the command and control system and water-tight secu-rity, yet it cannot be ruled out and the government and secu-rity establishment have to be extra vigilant and takeimmediate corrective measures. This attack means the Tal-iban are in full gear to hit back in not only Afghanistan butPakistan that is the front-line ally of America.

This also indicates towards the inefficient and ineffectiveprosecution system, legal process, interrogation and investi-gation system and the weakened civil administration that hasby virtue of its inner ills and non-willingness no capacity toprovide vibrant replacement. Not a single terrorist had everbeen hanged or punished and those languishing in jails, likethose of the Bannu, have either been released or secured.

The society as a whole has shown its weakness, the ad-ministration has proved it has turned into a security riskrather than being the custodian and this unwillingness on themassive scale has rendered the security forces of the countryincluding the military isolated. The attitude by media, civilsociety and the government towards those brave soldiersburied alive under the thousands of tons of glaciers and rocksis evident enough.

ESCHMALL SARDARPeshawar

Only a few choicesLast week when Pakistani parlia-

ment approved the pre-conditions setfor the US to comply with before Pak-istan agreeing to resume the NATOsupplies for Afghanistan, one wouldhave wondered on inclusion of a de-mand: stop drone attacks on the tribalareas. All the right-wing political/reli-gious parties are now up in arms tostop the NATO supplies at all cost.

Obviously the alternate to drone at-tacks such as aerial bombardment byPakistani air force is more disastrous asit results in more collateral damage.Let’s take the right-wing parities lineand stop the drone attacks and aerialbombardment, then what next; will wereturn to peace and prosperity in Pak-istan and Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, this is not the case;state is crumbling in front of these ter-rorists.

This was very much evident fromApril 14 early morning attack on theBannu central jail. Nearly 400 prison-ers including a number of hardcore mil-itants escaped to safety. It was a wellcoordinated attack on a so-called high

security jail when more than 250 heav-ily armed militants in vehicles and onfoot stormed the prison building whileshowering it with AK-47, hand grenadeand RPGs.

Despite presence of army units andFrontier Constabulary in the vicinity ofthe prison, no one came to the help offew jail guards who were taken by sur-prise due to this lightening attack.Without much resistance put forwardby a handful guards, Taliban were ableto win the release of their importantcomrades.

They took all the freed comradesand marched out of Bannu in form of avictorious rally and entered the lawlesstribal agency – North Waziristan. Any-one who thinks that these militants willnow return to normal civilian life is liv-ing in fool’s paradise. No doubt theywill re-join the Taliban forces and willbe in the field within short time.

There is no doubt that Pakistantribal areas pose a very difficult and in-hospitable terrain to fight the militants,then what is the solution – get the sol-diers and paramilitary troops killed likesitting chickens or go for aerial bom-bardment and cause collateral damage,

or resume the targeted drone attacks. It’s high time for Pakistan not to

submit to terrorists, otherwise we endup what was Afghanistan in late 90s.Both the CIA and ISI need to work to-gether to build a mechanism to ex-change information on targets and toverify the same before triggering thebutton. Choices are very few, it’s up tous whether to go for a civilized demo-cratic Pakistan or a hardliner countryliving in dark ages.

MASOOD KHANJubail, Saudi Arabia

Our tv programmesOur TV channels should stop pro-

moting Indian programmes as it is ofno use promoting their programmeson our screen. Have we ever seen ourprogrammes on Indian TV channels?

Instead of promoting Indian pro-grammes such as dramas, films, showsetc on our screens, we should promoteours which have better quality, mod-esty, culture, ethics and regional val-ues as compared to their programmes.

KAINAT SHAIKHKarachi

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM

comment12tuesday, 17 april, 2012

Arif NizamiEditor

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

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

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

on staying in limits

Jurists’ moot

The first thing that a military rule does is thestunting of the natural growth of the institutionsof both civil society and state. This is what hashappened in Pakistan under Ayub, Zia and

Musharraf. With the 2008 elections, the institutions tastedfreedom after nine years. With the shackles that hadbound them now gone they have at times exercised thenewly gained freedom and vigour in ways that have raisedquestions. This is as much true about the executive andjudiciary as it is about the media, and the organisations ofdoctors, lawyers and other sections of society. There is aneed on the part of the government and judiciary toseriously ponder over how to remain pro-active withouttransgressing into each other’s domain of authority. Oncethey have done this, others will fall into line.

The declaration opposes the exercise of direct orindirect control over critical inputs of the courts by otherbranches of government. As an independent judiciaryconstitutes a dependable bedrock that supports the edificeof democracy, the government needs to realise that tryingto influence or subjugate it is tantamount to weakening thesystem. Democracy cannot survive long without the rule oflaw, nor the national economy prosper in the absence ofindependent courts which ensure a level playing field foreveryone and provide a guarantee against unfair practices.

This said, the courts too should avoid doing anythingthat creates the perception that they are prejudiced againsta government or a party. The choice of cases that involveimportant government functionaries while ignoring foryears other cases of national importance has led many toquestion the criteria behind the choice. That Islamabaddeclaration underlines the need for judicial restraint istherefore heartening. What is needed is to ensure thatjudicial restraint is actually practiced. The common manexpects superior judiciary to make the recourse to justicecheap and a timely decision of cases. With the dedicationdisplayed by the superior judiciary, it can make history if itdecides to concentrate on the two issues.

Another stop for the travelling circus

the show goes on

It’s the DPC’s way or the highway, democracy besmitten. When a political party, like, say, the JUI,says it won’t allow the resumption of Nato supplyroutes, there is the fig leaf of legitimacy there. Their

not allowing is an allusion to their position in thedemocratic process. That they are going to use theirleverage in the PCNS to stop the decision. That they aregoing to threaten to boycott future sessions or work up astorm in all the chambers of legislature that they arecurrently in.

When the DPC says it won’t allow it, it meanssomething else. There is no way that it can get aroundimplying vigilantism. After all, what leverage does thisagglomeration of religious outfits have?

At the council’s gig at Peshawar, the members“rejected” the parliament’s decision on the Nato supplyroutes. They are well within their legal and moral right notto own a parliamentary decision. There would, at thismoment, be many people who actually voted for the PPP,ANP or the Leagues who would not approve of theparliament’s decision. But the democratic process is whatit is. Parties can campaign on a particular issue and whenthe burdens of governance or legislation hit them, they canrealise that things are not what they seemed from thesidelines. They modify their stance and sell it to theirrespective electorates. If the latter don’t buy it, someoneelse comes next time. Sometimes parties still don’t changetheir point of view, like the JUI(F) doesn’t seem to bedoing now. But even they have to realise their place in thescheme of things.

Some DPC leaders have asked the contractors andtransporters than make the Nato transport possible not tocooperate voluntarily. Now, again, an economic boycott isa tried and tested form a civil action. KP’s ruling ANPcould hardly find fault with this most Gandhian ofmethods. But the fact of the matter is that few transporterswould not see this as the veiled threat that it is.

The government has its work cut out for it. It has to becareful in differentiating between the right to peacefulprotest and the instigation to violence, a legal offence.

The area Nadeem used to live inwas a large village or small townonce, not many years ago. Therewas no decent school or medicalfacility in the area. Communica-

tion with the larger city was difficult, theroads poor and the means of transportationdifficult to access and expensive. But thingshave changed rapidly in the last couple ofdecades.

Today his house is connected to theworld through mobile phones, which every-one in the household has and uses fre-quently. They have cable television througha local provider. FM radio brings the latestsongs from around the world into thehousehold. They have broadband accessthrough the Internet provider and whenthat does not work, they have accessthrough pre-paid Internet access cards.

Their area now has paved roads andeven public transport to the larger nearbycity is widely available. But the area has de-cent schools and health facilities, andthough for universities and more serioushealth issues people still have to travel tothe city, the day-to-day activities do not re-quire them to leave the area much. But in-terestingly, given the government’sadministrative classification, from prior tolocal government changes of 2001, the areais still classified as a rural area of the Pun-jab. Clearly our rural-urban distinction isoutmoded. It was based on the notion ofwhere we had town committees and so on,based on dated population and administra-tive structures. One hears that according tothis classification even some areas aroundDefence Housing Authority in Lahore, likewhere LUMS is now, are classified as rural.Given the infrastructure of the area, there isno sensible definition of rural-urban underwhich we can classify that area as rural.

The last couple of decades have changedPakistan a lot. Large areas of the Punjab, es-pecially in the Central and Northern parts,areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and areassurrounding Karachi, Hyderabad and otherlarger towns of Sindh, have seen the econ-omy, infrastructure and living undergo sig-nificant changes, similar to ones describedabove about Nadeem’s neighbourhood.These are not reflected in our official statis-tics and even our societal discussions/de-bates. We continue to say Pakistan is anagricultural economy, where 70 odd percentof the population still lives in rural areas.This is important because then we expectthe government to plan and execute devel-opment on the basis of this reality and ex-pectations that follow. But this might not bewhat the government should be doing. Wemight need a more thought through strat-egy which takes into account the needs ofurban areas directly, especially the newly

urbanised areas and populations, and bal-ance governmental policies in light of thenew reality.

If we do change the older definitionsand reclassify areas as rural or urban on thebasis of statistics like size of population,population density (high in urban areas),access to infrastructure, time and cost of ac-cessing larger urban areas etc., the relevantbasis for such classification can be workedout fairly easily by relevant experts/policymakers, my feeling, and this is just based onwhat I have seen/read recently, is we couldhave our urban population percentagegoing up by as much as 10 odd percent to aball park of around 40 percent as urban.That would mean a significant rethinking ofhow we think of Pakistan, our economy, andour developmental needs.

Here is an example to bring this home.If a large village/small town has developedenough, in the ways mentioned above, thenits developmental needs are not just goingto be about access to water for agriculture,roads for farm to market connections andaccess to electricity for agricultural pur-poses. The town is going to need planningfor further expansion, it will need publicwater and waste removal systems. It willneed electricity grids and connection to thegas pipeline system. It will need to plan fornot only needed schools and BHUs/RHCsbut colleges and larger and more specializedhospitals. Town planners will need to deter-mine where private schools/colleges shouldgo, where trade/commerce should concen-trate and so on: everything that a town/cityneeds to think through to make it a liveablespace.

At the larger level we will have to thinkthrough what this means for the develop-ment strategy of the country. Can thesetowns/cities be hubs of growth for the econ-omy? The new growth strategy that Plan-ning Commission has put togetherdefinitely thinks so. It would be great if wecould have solid statistics to back thatthinking. If we find that a significant pro-portion of populations of these areas, sayfifty or sixty percent, are no longer depend-ent, primarily, on agriculture for their in-come, or do not take agriculture to be their

primary source of income/occupation, wewill need to figure out which areas ofagribusiness, industry, trade and commercecan flourish in the area. Infrastructure de-velopment and vocational training pro-grammes etc would have to be tailored tomatch the requirements of the area.

Though the commitment of some of thepolitical parties, organised more for provin-cial and national politics, regarding devolu-tion to local levels is a bit shaky still, thereis broad realization that this will have to bedone sooner or later. Though sooner wouldbe better of course. But this fits in well withwhat is being said. The various urban areasthat have developed recently or are devel-oping will need detailed planning for infra-structure as well as for all otherdevelopment needs mentioned. This cannotbe done from any provincial capital hun-dreds of miles and light-years of thinkingaway and with very different politics as well.The local governments will need to developand if they do, they will be in the best posi-tion to organize for local development. Theearlier we realise this, the better for our na-tional growth/development effort.

Take a road trip across central/northernPunjab or some of the South Western re-gions of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa. They do notgive the look of rural areas anymore. Andthey are not. There are quite a few suchareas in Pakistan now. We still keep think-ing of them as rural areas due to older waysof thinking. This thinking needs updating asit is costing us, in terms of not only organ-izing better facilities, especially infrastruc-ture, for the people in these areas, but interms of developmental and growth oppor-tunities too. These areas might not needagricultural incentives anymore, but morefinely calibrated ones for industrial andtrade development. At the very least weneed to update our ways of thinking andclassification to reflect the changing andchanged reality of Pakistan.

The writer is an Associate Professor ofEconomics at LUMS (currently on leave)and a Senior Advisor at Open SocietyFoundation (OSF). He can be reached [email protected]

By Dr Faisal Bari

rural-urban boundariesit is time to re-evaluate them

With the incumbent government nearing to completeits constitutional tenure, the country is increasinglyseeing a warming up of political campaigns by vari-

ous political parties in the shape of big rallies and membershipdrives in various parts of the country.

The incumbent government, during the last four years ofruling, not only faced law and order situation but also had toaddress certain other issues including that of political ten-sions. every political and religious party is fishing for people’strust.

However, common people have know it quite well nowthat whichever party may come into power it is least likely forthem to get relief and amelioration in their conditions.

The disturbing fact of a decreasing number of voters at thepolling stations in the previous elections in the country is in-dicative of the conditions wherein voters are losing interest inany possible change in the country through democracy. Thereason behind this lessening of interest in democratic processcould be seen in the despondency in delivery on the part of theruling class.

Tensions among political parties and levelling of allega-tions against each other instead of focusing on masses’ prob-lems have disappointed the poor stratum of the society. Theyare pessimistic in their views to see any good course of line forsolution of problems like unemployment, price-hike and thelaw and order conditions in the country.

– Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur RaufKhattak

Elections and political activismDaily Khabroona

Regional Press

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM

comment 13tuesday, 17 april, 2012

hundreds of people are killed in the name of religion

a blessing or a bane?

Many moons ago in a different con-tinent a Pakistani acquaintanceasked me, very seriously,

whether she should attend the wedding ofher friend’s daughter. Let me explain.

My acquaintance, her friend and theirfamilies had known each other for the bestpart of ten years since moving from Pak-istan. In an immigrant’s life, particularlyin countries far from home where fellowcountrymen are few and far between, suchfriendships tend to develop faster anddeeper than at home. The children ofthese two families had grown up togetherand were closer than they would be totheir own cousins back in Pakistan. Andyet this question arose because the newsthat the other family was Ahmadi had onlyrecently burst like a thunderclap uponthat circle of expatriates. My acquaintanceworried that attending an Ahmadi’s mar-riage would compromise her iman.

Rendered speechless with disgust Iadvised her when I was able, to attend thewedding, adding that religious loyalty wasin fact reason to meet people of otherfaiths, to show oneself as an example as itwere (although, I felt this example wasbetter hidden than not). My caustic under-

thought was fulfilled whenafter declaring piously that‘by the Grace of God a kafirhad never once crossedtheir threshold, nor the re-verse’, we parted, and shedid not attend the wedding.

Today when this bigotryhas spread and permeatedPakistan like poison, whereis one to go, particularlywhen one has only just re-turned hopefully to thisnostalgic jungle? Is one tobe grateful that one belongsto the mainstream religionand sect and let all else go tohell? Given what happens tothose who take a stand andspeak out there appears tobe little choice.

Hundreds of peoplehave been killed becausethey belong not only to an-other religion, but to an-other sect of Islam. Theseincidents have become socommon that they nolonger elicit half the re-sponse they ought. Cer-tainly nothing more than atoken noise on the part of agovernment engrossed inensuring it remains inpower for another round ofrapacity.

The involvement of

powerful local political figures has oftenbeen mentioned. A Pakistan Today reportquoted local Hindus, following the allegedkidnapping of Rinkle Kumari, as sayingthat a powerful local politician and Pak-istan Peoples Party MNA brought armedmen to harass them when they attemptedto protest.

Similar allegations have been made incountless instances. Recently in a non-sectarian case, the SHO of police con-fessed to the police’s inability to arrest thesuspects because of their (the suspects’)influence and political connections.

A horrific aspect of this trend are theforced conversions to Islam, where rela-tives of a growing number of girls have al-leged kidnap and forced marriage of afemale relative to a Muslim. The case ofRinkle Kumari mentioned above is one.Says Pakistan Today in a report dated10th of April, ‘just like kidnappings forransom (and) extortion by powerful feudallords from Hindu businessmen…, forcedconversion of Hindu girls in Sindh is a bigproblem for the Hindu community.’

The day that Rinkle was brought tothe Karachi Press Club for a session withthe media was reported in far more sinis-ter language by yet another newspaper: ‘Acouple of bearded people kept on givingnotes to the girl during the press confer-ence. A woman, who said she was a policeconstable, was also present at the pressconference, which was abruptly cut short.The girl could not respond to questionsasked by journalists and kept on sayingthat she had embraced Islam without anyforce and married of her own free will.’When the conference ended, ‘two mencame forward and said that the press con-ference was over. They held her arm andtook her away. They boarded a waiting carand left along with a police mobile whichwas parked outside the Press Club.’

This is one of the most chilling reportsI have ever read both in its content and allthat it refrains from saying.

Last week members of minoritygroups and some social organisationsprotested against these incidents of forcedconversions outside the Lahore PressClub’. ‘Down with mullah-ism!’ shoutedthe protestors.

‘It is a sin to take away someone’srights like that,’ said one man. However,another, when questioned, responded in away that was even more chilling than thereport above: ‘Isn’t it a blessing whensomeone is being converted into a Mus-lim?’ he bleated.

Please someone force-feed this manprodigious quantity of something good tillhe explodes, just so he can discover thedifference between a blessing and a banefor himself.

By Rabia Ahmed

How much ammo does ittake for the Taliban tobreach a ‘maximum secu-

rity prison compound’? The an-swer, sadly, is “not much”. Ifyou’re Constable Firdous Khan,one of the guards who was chargedwith guarding this infamous Tal-iban den, you would be quite madat the powers that be. Firdous wasonly one of 36 men that were onduty at the time of the attack.That’s the number of officers thatare on duty at an average precinctover holidays such as eid. Forgoodness sake, it takes more offi-cers to populate KPK Chief Minis-ter Ameer Haider Hoti’smotorcade. How anyone in the lawenforcement establishment ex-pected to keep a lid on nearly 700vicious, blood-thirsty, flesh-eatingmilitants by posting a skeletoncrew armed with what can only bedescribed as AK-47s with lilies intheir muzzles, is beyond me. Or isit?

Whenever I think too hardabout the ‘good Taliban versus badTaliban’ conundrum, my brainblows a fuse. But I’m sure the ISIhas better mental wiring and cere-bral circuit breakers than I do. Yousee, the fact that Pakistan needs tokeep these troublemakers on aleash is common knowledge. Inthe longer run, our generals figure,the US will leave Afghanistan;Hamid Karzai will eventually beunseated and Afghanistan will re-turn to business as usual: warlordscarving up the country any-which-way they want. That is when thecunning Pakistani fox will trounceall others with its foresight. Noone will know what hit them andwe’ll be in the VIP enclosure,singing the “We Told You So”song.

But it’s not quite that simple.Before the US plots a hasty retreator, as they prefer to call it, a‘smooth transition’, they needguarantees. These guarantees in-clude commitments from the Pak-istani intelligence community thatno matter what their interests oradvantages, Pakistan will not sup-port, harbour or arm groups thatare hostile towards the UnitedStates, in any way shape or form.Ironically, unbeknownst to them,the US is inadvertently funding thelargest anti-US militant force inthe world: the Pakistan army. Theirony is not lost on those of us whocan see the joke: for decades, the

US has been pouring money intothe pockets of unsavory majors,colonels, brigadiers and the odd LtGeneral. In return for thesefavours, the Yanks have had al-most unrestricted access to a hostof intelligence, military and otherassets. Assets cultivated by thePakistan military and the ISI. Allis well as long as the Americansdon’t try to cut us out of the deal.But being shrewd businessmen,it’s never long before they hatch aplan to do just that.

Now, the ISI is not as bad asit’s portrayed. They may havemissed the Al-Qaeda leader hidingin their backyard, but they cer-tainly don’t miss a beat when theCIA tries to outflank them andbrings people like Mullah Baradar,a known Pakistani collaborator, tothe negotiating table – all withoutthe guidance of his ISI handlers.When the ISI gets wind of this, theproverbial hits the fan and beforeyou can say ‘Freeze, police!’ the er-rant militant is picked up by Pak-

istani law enforcement agenciesand taken out of the equation, justlike that. It is obvious that ourspooks don’t take being dealt outof the game very lightly at all.

But what clues does this latestShawshank Redemption afford us?Apart from the fact that the KPKpolitical and civil administration isasleep at the wheel while massivecorruption eats away at the foun-dations of our most conflict andturmoil prone province, all is quitewell. The military establishment iswell and fully in control and canengineer events such as the jail-break on Sunday, if only to in-crease pressure on the Americans

who are trying to short-sell whatPakistan has invested in the war onterror. An unidentified Talibancommander, who claimed to havemasterminded the operation, toldthe highly unreliable Reuters newsagency that they had spent aroundRs 20 million on planning and ex-ecuting the operation, which lasteda little over an hour and yieldedseveral hundred high-value tar-gets. Mind you, this is a far cryfrom the lax-guarded Police Train-ing Academy in Manawan or theelite Force Training School in Be-dian or the FIA Headquarters inLahore, which were all located inthe sleepy suburbs of Lahore andwere guarded just as heavily as theLahore petting zoo. No, this was anactual prison where the baddest ofthe bad were being held, ostensiblyagainst their will. Makes you won-der, doesn’t it?

Follow @mightyobvious onTwitter for more incoherence in160 characters or less

Mighty obviousBy Syed Hassan Belal Zaidi

What clues does this latest Shawshank Redemption afford us?None whatsoever. That’s a clue right there

prison break

Mind you, this is a far cry from the lax-

guarded Police Training Academy in

Manawan or the elite force Training

School in Bedian or the fiA

headquarters in lahore, which were all

located in the sleepy suburbs of lahore

and were guarded just as heavily as the

lahore petting zoo.

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:37 AM


Art scores over mart for few B'wood actors

MUMBAi: Mainstream Bollywood producersoften lament that there is no young actoravailable to do just commercial cinema asthe current lot clearly prefers art overcommerce. rishi Kapoor's fear that his sonwill remain the modern day amol Palekar,has been assuaged. ranbir, whose choice ofcinema is eclectic, has managed to strike abalance between art and mart by doing theodd commercial film, like raj Santoshi's ajab‘Prem ki ghazab Kahani’ (2009), PrakashJha's ‘raajneeti’ (2010) and imtiaz ali's‘rockstar’ (2011). "i don't see cinema ascommercial or art house. if a script anddirector excite me, i go for it," says theactor. But ranbir's upcoming flicks are morethinking cinema than masala fare. He will beseen next in anurag Basu's ‘Barfee’, anuragKashyap's ‘Bombay velvet’ and reportedly inDibakar Banerjee's untitled venture. One canclearly see that in ranbir's effort to offsethis hatke choice, he is currently shootingwith his close friend ayan Mukerji for ‘yehJaawani Hai Deewani’. imran Khan, who metfailure early on in his career (‘Luck’ and‘Kidnap’) has also started thinking likeranbir. the actor, who tasted success with‘Delhi Belly’, is now doing vishal Bhardwaj's‘Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola’ and is likely togive priority to tigmanshu Dhulia's (of ‘PaanSingh tomar’ fame) ‘Milan talkies’. themessage is loud and clear. these youngsterscannot be tempted with mega bucks. Eachof them is looking to rewrite the rule bookand earn posterity by taking the road lesstravelled. AGeNCieS

14KARAcHI: models showcase a creation of Pakistani designers on the last day of style 360 Bridal couture Week fashion show. ImRAN AlIFASHION

sAIm

sHAmAeel

tABAssum mugHAl

sAIm

sAIm

sAIm

sAIm

sAIm

sAIm

egyPtIAN dANceR AmAR

RuBy sHeKel

1 ittehad Textile’s Lawn collection camein a range of prints and patterns exuding

femininity, elegance and charm with silhou-ettes focusing on cut precision and drapery.the floor sweeping ensembles wereadorned with embroidery, crystal and metalembellishment that featured an array ofstyles based on ethnic themes, in additionto a digital prints’ sub-line.

2 Sundus Nawaz introduced her kid’swear label rockstar Munks. the playful

and preppy debut collection drew inspirationfrom the popular cartoon series ‘alvin andthe Chipmunks’ and was dedicated to thechildren of the SOS Children’s Orphanageand village, who also showcased the collec-tion on the ramp. Sundus used light weightknit, pure cottons, self-made buttons andglittery textured fabrics in her collection.

3 Sadia designers lawn 2012 collectionwas designed for women who appreci-

ate the finer things in life. the collectionembodied a fusion of classic with contem-porary and a blend of exotic and traditionaldesigns set in vibrant hues and printed onpremium quality fabric.

4 Karma’ women’s wear collection,‘Seussical’, was inspired from the

whimsical literary works of the beloved chil-dren’s author Dr Seuss. Cult classics suchas ‘the Cat in the Hat’, ‘Horton Hears a Who’and his countless poems provide the designhouse the inspiration for the colour palette,motifs and creative direction. Hair, makeupand styling direction for the show was byasmaa Mumtaz.

5 Somal halepoto presented qudrat, awomen’s wear collection. inspired by

tropical birds, the collection was imbuedwith rich colours across a diversity of fabricssuch as raw silk, chiffon, chamois with anemphasis on appliqué, thread work andblock print detailing. the styles ranged fromhalter cut sleeves, straight shirts, rounddamans to flowy panels draped shirts,baggy sleeves, loose pants and tights.

6 Pifd: the collection represented cre-ativity and innovation in garments

achieved through pattern, draping andsewing skills taught at the PiFD. it coveredthe diversity of ethnic to chic and from tra-ditional to audaciously prêt.

7 fNKAsia’s collection paid homage tothe african-amercian women’s rights

activist Sojourner truth. Bohemian in mood,the collection drew on a vivid indigo, indianyellow, green and ancient terracotta palette.these colours were blocked in bellowinghoods, lacy pockets and drawstrings to setthe strong and rebellious mood of the col-lection. With emphasis on linens, laces andviscos, the collection further exhibited theuse of hand block print and hand held em-broideries with defined cuts and straighterstructures.

8 hammad-Ur-Rehman presented SijUbhran, which translates to sunrise,

drawing inspiration from the tharpakar dis-trict in Sindh. through his collection, Ham-mad represented the idea of transformationthrough different colour shades similar tothose present in each sunrise. the de-signer’s sunrise colour palette includedcoral, tangerine, yellows and fresh greens.

9 Ali Xeeshan showcased hisSpring/Summer 2012 collection Bano

rani, drawing inspiration from a womanwho has gone through the highs and lowsof an emotional journey without losing herself-esteem and dignity. the designer rep-resented this journey through his surfaceembellishment and emphasis on the elon-gated torso. Opulently treated chiffon re-flects the grace of Bano rani and the highintensity of bright shades highlighted a di-versity of silhouettes. Photos by: MUrtaZa aLi

FASHION7 4

17

55

When Akshay stood by Nargis Fakhri MUMBAi: Swimsuit model tunred actressNargis Fakhri might have gone unnoticedafter her ‘rockstar’ co-star ranbir Kapoorstole the entire show, but there is someonewho gave her the much needed attention.akshay Kumar approached the girl for hisupcoming flick ‘Khiladi 786’, which will beproduced by the hunk and music directorHimesh reshammiya. talking to a source,“She will be donning ultra-glam clothes in thefilm. it`s a very sexy avatar.” “She is veryhappy. it was not easy for her after ‘rockstar’where ranbir got all the praise. Khiladi 786 isnot a small film. Moreover, akshay has had abig hit in ‘Housefull 2’ only recently. all thisadds to her excitement,” the source added.Who knows, Nargis might emerge as one ofthe most sought after actress post ‘Khiladi786’. after all, akshay and Salman Khan werethe ones who brought Katrina Kaif’s careerback on tracks. AGeNCieS

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:38 AM

15

salman to gift Kareena a BmW

Jolie’s engagement ring already has its own representationLOS ANGELES: Proving they don’t believe that Fridaythe 13th brings bad luck, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pittchose today to announce that they are engaged to bemarried. The pair was reportedly prompted when thecouple’s children told Pitt to “get mommy a ring.” Andthat he did-but not just any ring; a ring that demandeda year’s worth of design, and a ring that appears to al-ready have its own Los Angeles-based representation.Shortly after Pitt’s manager, Cynthia Pett-Dante, con-firmed the engagement news, Beverly Hills jewelerRobert Procop confirmed that he collaborated with theOscar–nominated actor on the aforementioned articleof jewelry in pro-level press-release terms: “Brad had aspecific vision for this ring, which he realised over ayearlong collaboration with Robert. He wanted every as-pect of it to be perfect, so Robert was able to locate a di-amond of the finest quality andcut it to an exact custom sizeand shape to suit An-gelina’s hand. Brad was al-ways heavily involved,overseeing every aspect ofthe creative design evo-lution. The side dia-monds are speciallycut to encircle herfinger. each dia-mond is of thehighest gem qual-ity.” It bears not-ing that thering-related pressrelease is longerthan the actualengagement press statement. AGeNCieS

MUMBAi: Even as india strongly condemnedthe detention of Shah rukh Khan at an airportin the US, John abraham feels that the airportofficials were just doing their duty. John toowas detained in 2009 but he believes thatevery nation must take appropriate securitymeasures to ensure safety of their civilians.talking to a daily, John said, “Every countrydoes its due diligence. getting into india forforeigners is not easy. the US is also doingwhatever they can to make their country safe,so it is justified. it all depends on howpersonally you take the issue, and Shah rukhhandled it with a lot of grace.” the hunk of anactor however admits that the reason forSrK’s detention could be primarily on thebasis of his origin. Explaining how racialdiscrimination is put into use, John said, “ihave been in that detention space, where the(Federal Bureau of investigation) FBi wascalled in because i had afganistan mentionedin my passport, as i had shot there for twomonths for my film Kabul Express. therewasn’t much hue and cry about this as i neverwanted to use the incident as a media pegfor the film. i was in for six hours and i wasasked the strangest questions. and of course,Shah rukh would agree that racial profilingcould be a pretty much correct term for it(interrogation) because it’s mostly colouredpeople who are detained.” AGeNCieS

yuvraj singh is a true fighter: Farhan AkhtarMUMBAi: the actor appreciated yuvrajSingh's fighting spirit. it takes oneathlete to understand and appreciatethe highs and lows of the other. acecricketer yuvraj Singh who battledcancer sought inspiration fromanother great Lance armstrong. yuvi'sfighting spirit and courage isnoteworthy. Fans of yuvi have beenpraying for his recovery and comebackto Cricket. actor Farhan akhtar whoplays Milkha Singh in his forthcomingfilm is also one of yuvi's admirers.Farhan met the cricketer recently andloved the way yuvi has handled thisturbulent phase of his life. Farhansaid, "i met yuvraj recently. Soinspired by how he's taken thisepisode in his stride. He's a truefighter. rock on yuvi." yuvraj too lovedhis meeting with Farhan. yuvraj evencomplimented Farhan on his newlyacquired athletic physique. "Farhanlooks in serious shape! Junior milkharock on buddy," he said. AGeNCieS

MUMBAi: trust Salman Khan forshowing gratitude in style forfavours done to him. KareenaKapoor wouldn’t have expecteda brand new BMW coming herway when she decided to do anitem number in Salman’s‘Dabangg 2’ for free. When newsbroke about Kareena doing anitem number in Salman’s‘Dabangg 2’, reports werefloating around the internet thatSallu would surprise her with agift. Because of her affinitywith Salman, Bebo apparentlydidn’t demand any fee for herspecial appearance in the film.the buzz that Salman is goingto give this special gift toKareena started doing therounds after a tweet from theunit source. the sourcetweeted: “@BeingSalmanKhanto gift Kareena Kapoor a BMWfor being a part of ‘Dabangg 2’.”the practice of giftingcolleagues isn’t new inBollywood. SrK reportedlygifted Sanjay Dutt a bike worthrs 15 lakh for his cameo in‘ra.One’. recently, akshayKumar made a huge donationto Salman Khan’s Being Humancharity after the latter made asong appearance in ‘tees MaarKhan’. AGeNCieS

8

4 6

3 6

2 9

designers stun at PFdc sunsilk Fashion Week day 3

NEwS DESK

The Pakistan Fashion DesignCouncil in collaboration withSunsilk presented the thirdday of the PFDC SunsilkFashion Week. Day 3marked the final day of theearly evening Voile Showswith a special show for chil-dren’s wear and six designerprêt a porter shows later inthe evening. Day 3 also wit-nessed the Ponds Gold Radi-ance Gold carpet roll out,where the new beauty line byPonds was introduced bycosmetologist Shahida Ziaalong and her beauty advis-ers. Attendees were given ex-pert skin advice by ShahidaZia herself. The Ponds GoldRadiance Gold Carpet alsobrought to PFDC SunsilkFashion Week a unique in-stallation by jewellery brandSo KFJ by Kiran Aman whopresented her collection en-titled ‘Barzakh’. Made insolid black onyx projections,the designs in Barzakh wereaccentuated by the simpleuse of 22kt beaten gold ac-cents dividing each solidshape symmetrically. The

collection for the Ponds GoldRadiance Gold Carpet fea-tured earrings, rings andpendants. On Day 3, titlesponsor, Sunsilk continuedto present an exclusive boothfor fashion styling, wherecomplimentary hair stylingand makeup touch ups withNabila's salon team wereavailable. The Sunsilk expertStudio was again present,where fashion week goershad their pictures takenagainst the Sunsilk Wall toget instant, framed photo-graphs as souvenirs. Thehighlight of the evening wasFNKAsia’s show, as its col-lection paid homage to theAfrican-Amercian women’srights activist SojournerTruth and her message ofequal rights for women. Herlegendary words ‘Ain’t I aWoman?’ were incorpo-rated as the soul of this col-lection which passionatelyaddressed the women of theworld, especially Pakistan.The show began with a nar-rative by Huma Adnan’sdaughter Parishae Adnanon the struggles of Sou-jouner Truth.

lady gaga goes spiritual ahead of world tour LONDON: Pop star Lady Gaga is taking emergency advice from

astrologers over fears that the stars will be aligned in the

wrong direction when she will commence her world tour. The

26-year-old ‘Poker Face’ hit-maker, who is set to kick off her

Born This Way Ball in Seoul later this month, is reportedly

less than pleased after learning planet Mercury will be

travelling backwards through the sky from July 15 to August

8, which in astrological terms can signify bad luck,

Femalefirst reported. "Gaga is worried as she wants the

stars to be aligned when she hits the road. She follows her

horoscopes closely and has been looking ahead for when

she’s away. "She’s a typical Aries -- outgoing with a sense

of adventure. But when she found out Mercury is likely to

go retrograde, she wasn’t happy and has been talking it

through with her spiritual team," a source said. Tickets for

Gaga’s two UK dates in London and Manchester sold out

in just 60 seconds on online sites on April 12 and fans,

who missed out, are said to be fuming after they were

directed to another site owned by the company, which

increased the price from USD 80 to USD 1,100. AGENCIES

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:39 AM


16 Foreign News

DAMASCUSAfP

SYRIAN forces were locked infierce gunfights with rebels inone city and shelled another onMonday, hours after UN peace-keepers arrived to oversee a

truce aimed at ending a year of blood-shed. President Bashar al-Assad's forceskilled three civilians and were fightingrebels at Idlib in the northwest, while alsoshelling the flashpoint central city ofHoms, said the Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights.

Since a UN-backed ceasefire cameinto force at dawn on Thursday, at least55 people, mostly civilians, have beenkilled in violence that prompted UN chiefBan Ki-moon to urge Syria to ensure the

truce does not collapse.The Observatory said on Monday that

11,117 people have been killed in 13 monthsof unrest -- 7,972 civilians and 3,145 mili-tary and gunmen, including fewer thanthan 600 rebel fighters. In Brussels, Bancalled on Damascus to exercise "maximumrestraint" and the opposition to "fully co-operate" to cement the shaky ceasefire.

An advance team of six internationalobservers arrived in Damascus late onSunday, the United Nations said. The del-egation -- the first of 30 monitors the UNSecurity Council approved on Saturday -- will set up a headquarters and prepareroutines to verify a cessation of hostilities.

"They've arrived and they will startwork (on Monday) morning," UN peace-keeping department spokesman KieranDwyer said. "The other monitors in the

advance party are still expected in Syriain coming days."

The remainder would come fromaround the Middle east and Africa "so wecan move people quickly and they are ex-perienced in the region," he told AFP.

Their mission is just one part of thesix-point peace plan that Syria agreedwith UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

The former UN chief wants morethan 200 observers to be deployed inSyria, but the Security Council has saidthere would be a full mission only if theviolence halts. The observers were wel-comed by Syria, which hoped they wouldsee for themselves the "crimes" commit-ted by "armed terrorist groups," said thestate news agency SANA.

They face a perilous task, with West-ern nations doubting Assad's commit-

ment to the ceasefire amid reports hisforces have kept battering rebel strong-holds and clashed with rebels.

A spike in deadly violence forced theArab League to end its own Syrian monitor-ing mission in late January, barely a monthafter sending them. On Monday, securityforces killed two civilians when they firedon a car in Hama, and shot dead another inthe town of Inkhel, southern Daraaprovince, where the uprising erupted inMarch 2011, said the Observatory.

elsewhere, fierce fighting erupted atdawn between Assad's forces and rebelsin the city of Idlib, the Britain-basedmonitoring group said. Regime forces re-sumed shelling rebel neighbourhoods ofKhaldiyeh and Bayyada in the central cityof Homs, a day after at least five civilianswere killed there.

JERUSALEMAfP

Israel has barred nearly 80 foreignersfrom flying into the country on groundsthey were linked to a pro-Palestiniancampaign, officials said on Monday,with 58 of them still awaiting deporta-tion. As of midnight, police at Ben Gu-rion airport near Tel Aviv had detained79 people, and by Monday morning, 21people of them had been sent back totheir port of origin, interior ministryspokeswoman Sabine Haddad told AFP.

Of the 58 who had refused to leavevoluntarily, two were being held in de-tention at the airport, while the other 56were taken to a facility near Tel Aviv, shesaid. Among those refusing deportationwere 43 French nationals, eight Britons,two Italians, three Canadians, one Span-

ish national and one person from theUnited States. All 79 activists would bebarred from entering Israel for fiveyears, Haddad said.

Hundreds of Israeli police had beendeployed at the airport from Saturdaynight in a bid to prevent the arrival of awave of foreigners taking part in the"Welcome to Palestine" fly-in campaign,also known as the "flytilla."

Organisers of the campaign, now inits third year, had been expecting to wel-come up to 1,500 people, but Israelvowed to prevent them from entry,warning airlines they would be forced tofoot the bill for the activists' immediatereturn home.

Most of europe's main airlinesquickly fell in line, cancelling the ticketsof at least 300 Tel Aviv-bound passen-gers, and sparking angry protests in sev-

eral european capitals.According to Haaretz newspaper,

over a third of the names presented tothe airlines were added to the blacklistwithout any concrete evidence they wereplanning anything illegal.

Quoting a senior source familiarwith the list, the paper said there was noevidence that 470 of the 1,200 names onit -- compiled by Israel's Shin Bet inter-nal security agency -- were involved in"pro-Palestinian activities" or affiliatedwith the flytilla.

Police at the airport also arrestednine Israeli activists who had come tosupport the visitors.

Last year, around 800 people triedto join the campaign, with many blockedfrom flying by airlines. Another 120were denied entry by Israel and de-ported.

iran warns gulf

states not to

‘complicate’

islands rowTEHRAN

AfP

Tehran on Monday warned Arab states inthe Gulf that things could become "verycomplicated" if they do not act cautiouslyover a simmering islands dispute betweenIran and the United Arab emirates.Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi made thedeclaration to Iran's ISNA news agency onthe eve of talks in Doha between the GulfCooperation Council (GCC) states overthree tiny islands in the Gulf and claimedby both Iran and the UAe.President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad infuri-ated the UAe by visiting one of them, AbuMusa, on April 11 and asserting in a speechthat historical records proved "the PersianGulf is Persian," as state media called histrip a purely "domestic issue."Abu Dhabi recalled its ambassador toTehran and lodged a protest to the UnitedNations over the visit, stressing that thedecades-old territorial dispute should beresolved in negotiations or at the Interna-tional Court of Justice. On Monday, it alsosummoned Iran's ambassador in AbuDhabi to complain. But Salehi said that al-though Iran wanted good relations with theUAe and was willing to hold discussions,"our rule over the islands is not negotiable,and Iran's sovereignty over the islands iscertain and on the record."He added: "We hope that the other sidesact with patience, perseverance, insight andprudence regarding the misunderstandingsthat could arise, or else issues will becomevery complicated."Salehi portrayed the reignited row as a"misunderstanding" that could be resolved.But media, several politicians and clerics inIran were scathing of the UAe's protest,highlighting the widely held belief in the Is-lamic republic that the islands always be-longed to their country.Iran Daily, a government newspaper thatpublishes in english, wrote in an editorialthat Abu Musa "belongs to Iran havingmore than 7,000 years of Iranian historyand culture."It went on to declare that that was "a his-tory hundreds of times older than newly-established sheikhdoms which until a shortperiod ago were nothing but small tribalcommunities whose leaders used to kissIranian kings' hands pleading for mercyand permitting them to have a short stay onthese islands to escape the hot desertweather and be able to graze their sheep inAbu Musa." Arabs going to the islands wereconsidered "miserable peasants" and "poorservants" by the Iranian monarchs, IranDaily added. The newspaper also criticisedBritain, which it said "cut out many Iranianterritories" and made them stand-alone na-tions on the southern side of the Gulf.

VATiCAN CiTY: Children dressed in the traditional Bavarian costumes dance for Pope Beneditct XVi on the occasion of Pontiff's 85th birthday celebrations in the

Clementine hall on Monday. afp

israel bars nearly 80 pro-palestinian activists

Fierce clashes as observers begin work in Syria

ROMEAfP

Strippers in nun costumes danced infront of Silvio Berlusconi at his villa, awitness Monday told a Milan courtwhere the former Italian prime minis-ter is on trial for allegedly having sexwith an underage prostitute.

Model Imane Fadil said the firsttime she went to a party she was given2,000 euros ($2,600) in cash by Berlus-coni, who told her: "Don't be offended."That night she said she saw two youngwomen in nun costumes with "black tu-nics, white veils and crosses" strippingin front of the then prime minister.

One of the two was Nicole Minetti,now a regional councillor for Berlusconi'sPeople of Freedom party in Milan, Mo-roccan-born Fadil said. She said Minetti

and the other woman ended up stayingthe night at the villa near Milan and al-leged that women who stayed were paidmore for sex. Fadil said she had heard ofBerlusconi having sex for money with atleast two of the women invited to his par-ties, Italian media reported.

Fadil also said she had come underpressure from a mysterious man to goback to the villa last year when theBerlusconi trial had already started.

"A man stopped near my house andgave me an untraceable phone to organ-ise a visit to Arcore. But I didn't wantto," she told the courtroom. Berlusconiis charged with having sex with an un-derage prostitute, Karima el-Mahroug,and then allegedly abusing his powers bygetting police to release her when shewas arrested for theft so that his crimewould not be revealed.

g at least 55 people, mostly civilians, killed in violence since thursday

Stripper nuns danced forBerlusconi: trial witness

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:39 AM

Foreign News 17tuesday, 17 april, 2012

Civilians struggle in

Sudan, South Sudan

border battlesJUBAAfP

Fierce fighting at the border betweenSudan and South Sudan is worsening analready grim humanitarian situationthere, aid workers said Monday, with asurge of refugees arriving in over-stretched camps. In South Sudan's Yidarefugee camp -- just one of several strungout along the volatile border -- around400 refugees are arriving every day, upfrom an average of 50 a day last week,the International Rescue Committee(IRC) aid agency said. Those refugees arefleeing civil war and hunger in the Nubamountains of Sudan's Southern Kordofanstate, an area close to where Sudan andSouth Sudan's rival armies have beenfighting in clashes that began last month.There has been a "wave of refugees reach-ing the camp in crowded trucks and onfoot," IRC aid worker elizabeth Pendertold AFP from Yida refugee camp, some25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the bor-der with Sudan. Sudanese warplanes havelaunched a series of bombing raids alongdisputed border areas in the South's UnityState, with fighting escalating last weekafter Southern troops seized the Heglig oilfield from Khartoum's army. "We'repreparing for thousands more arrivals,"Pender said, adding that those arrivingsaid they were fleeing not only conflict butalso growing hunger, with Khartoum'ssoldiers blocking aid from the Nuba re-gions. The influx has "worsened the hu-manitarian situation in the camp," Pendersaid, warning that aid was alreadystretched for the 20,000 refugees there.

Japanese woman,

73, in record

Everest attemptKATHMANDU

AfP

A 73-year-old Japanese mountaineerwho became the oldest woman to con-quer Mount everest a decade ago is at-tempting to smash her own record,organisers said on Monday.Tamae Watanabe made history when shereached the world's highest peak on May16, 2002, taking the title of world's oldestfemale everest summiteer from Poland'sAnna Czerwinska."She is an active mountaineer who isphysically and mentally fit enough toclimb everest," said Ang TsheringSherpa, of the Kathmandu-based AsianTrekking mountaineering agency."She will launch her ascent from the Ti-betan side of the mountain."Watanabe, who set off from Kathmandulast week accompanied by Japanesemountaineer and photographer NoriyukiMuraguchi, plans to reach the top of the8,848-metre (29,029-foot) peak betweenMay 10 and 12, said Sherpa.Min Bahadur Sherchan, from Nepal,holds the record for being the oldest manto conquer the mountain. He reached thesummit in 2008 at the age of 76 yearsand 340 days.

OSLOAfP

ANDeRS Behring Breivikpleaded not guilty for hismassacre of 77 people inNorway, making a defi-ant far-right salute as his

trial began Monday before being con-fronted by dramatic recordings of theslaughter. Prosecutors told the court-room in Oslo that Breivik was respon-sible for the bloodiest chapter ofmodern Norwegian history as theyread a roll call of his victims, showedfootage of his bombing of governmentbuildings, and played an emergencycall from a young woman dodging bul-lets on the Utoeya island.

But while Breivik showed no emo-tion at the evidence of his killings, hiseyes welled up as the court viewed a 12-minute anti-Islam film summarisinghis manifesto which he posted onlinethe day of the carnage.

"I acknowledge the acts, but notcriminal guilt, and I claim legitimatedefence," the 33-year-old, who is ac-cused of "acts of terror," told the court.

Breivik, dressed in a dark suitand gold-coloured tie, told thejudges he did not "recognise the Nor-wegian court."

Just moments earlier, he had

touched his chest and extended hisclenched right fist in front of him as hishandcuffs were removed on his entryinto the courtroom.

In the 1,500-page manifesto heposted online shortly before the July22 attacks, Breivik described thegesture as "the clenched fist salute"of the Knights Templar organisation,of which he claims to be a member

but which the prosecution argueddoes not exist.

The defendant remained stoney-faced for almost an hour as prosecutorsread aloud a long list of names of thedead and injured and recalled chillingdetails of his massacre.

But he then lost his composurewhen his self-made movie wasscreened.

CARTAGENAAfP

A Pan-American summit has ended in dis-cord here as regional leaders failed to agreeon Cuba's inclusion in future summits in theface of US and Canadian opposition.

US President Barack Obama, who de-fended his stance on Havana at a post-sum-mit press conference, also faced questionson Washington's approach to the drug warand found himself on the defensive over anembarrassing Secret Service prostitutionscandal.

The vast majority of the region's demo-cratically elected leaders attending the talksin the coastal Colombian city of Cartagenasaid they wanted Cuba included in futuremeetings.

But Obama, backed by Canadian Prime

Minister Stephen Harper, objected and thesummit ended without the release of a finalstatement, as happened at the previous sum-mit in Trinidad in 2009.

Cuba has yet to take part in a Summit ofthe Americas, a regular meeting sponsoredby the US-based Organization of AmericanStates (OAS).

explaining his opposition to Cuba's par-ticipation, Obama told a press conferencethat he hoped for a democratic transition inthe hemisphere's only one-party Communiststate but said it had not yet taken place.

"The fact of the matter is Cuba, unlikethe other countries participating, has not yetmoved to democracy. Has not yet observedbasic human rights," Obama told a newsconference.

Nor did summit participants agree on acall by Guatemala to consider decriminaliz-

ing drug use in view of the failure of the waron narcotrafficking, which is creating havocacross the region, particularly in centralAmerica.

But Colombian President Juan ManuelSantos, the summit host, said participantsagreed on the "need to analyze results of thecurrent anti-drug policy and to explore newapproaches to strengthen the fight and to bemore effective."

Santos, who leads the country that is theworld's leading cocaine producer, said the 33leaders present at the summit gave a man-date to the OAS to begin the process.

Obama, whose country is the world'sbiggest consumer of drugs, agreed for thefirst time to a direct dialogue with his LatinAmerican partners on the issue of drug con-sumption and the flow of money and armstoward Latin America.

australian girl, 2, home

alone with dead

mum for five daysSYDNEY

AfP

An Australian two-year-old spent upto five days home alone with the bodyof her dead mother, according to offi-cials who said Monday she may havesurvived on chocolate easter eggs.The severely dehydrated child wasfound on Friday after neighboursraised the alarm, leading to the dis-covery of the body of a woman inher 30s in a house in Wagga Wagga,some 400 kilometres (250 miles)southwest of Sydney. "She was quitelethargic and pale. She wasn't sayingmuch, she wasn't displaying muchemotion," regional Ambulance In-spector eamonn Purcell said of thetoddler. Authorities admit there aremany unknowns in the case, includ-ing how the mother died, but whilethe girl was dehydrated her bloodsugar levels were good. "It was notlong after easter so she probably hadsome chocolate eggs that she was eat-ing," Purcell told reporters. Policeand paramedics who treated the girlwere unable to say how long she mayhave been alone but reports said thatneighbours believed it could havebeen up to five days. "You've got tofeel for this two-year-old who mighthave been alone days and nights inthis house," Purcell said. The childwas taken to hospital in a seriouscondition but had since improved.

PYoNGYANG: North Koreans performers dance in Kim il-Sung square during celebrations to mark the 100th birth anniversary of the country's founding leader

Kim il-Sung on Monday. afp

Americas leaders end summit in discord

Breivik defiant as Norwaymassacre trial opens

RAMALLAHAfP

Palestinian leader MahmudAbbas has no intention of dissolv-ing the Palestinian Authority, al-though it has been renderedlargely powerless by Israel, he tolda newspaper on Monday.

In an interview published aday before a senior Palestinian del-egation is to deliver a letter fromAbbas to Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, the Palestin-ian leader said breaking up the au-thority he heads would nothappen.

"There are many reasons

which have contributed to theweakening of the Palestinian Au-thority, but its dissolution is out ofthe question," Abbas told thePalestinian daily Al-Ayyam.

In the letter, a copy of whichwas seen by AFP on Sunday, Abbassays Israel's actions have strippedthe Palestinian Authority of its"raison d'etre," creating a realitywhich cannot continue.

"As a result of actions taken bysuccessive Israeli governments,the Palestinian National Authorityno longer has any authority, andno meaningful jurisdiction in thepolitical, economic, territorial andsecurity spheres," he wrote.

oSlo: Rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik who killed 77 people in twin

attacks in Norway last year, makes a far-right salute as he enters the oslo

district courtroom at the opening of his trial Monday. afp

abbas says dissolving pa‘out of the question’

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:39 AM

Tuesday, 17 April, 2012

Page 21

Djokovic aims to endNadal’s reign in Monte Carlo

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

PAKISTAN'S troubled wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal couldfinally make a comeback tothe national team for the

ODI and Twenty20 match againstBangladesh later this month. Reportsattributing from the Pakistan CricketBoard said that Kamran, who has beenout of favour since the 2011 World Cup,was only allowed to train with the Pak-istan team at the National CricketAcademy last week after the board gaveclearance.

"The Chairman of the Board, ZakaAshraf has finally cleared Kamran to beconsidered for national selection that iswhy he is now training with the Pak-istani players at the NCA," a source said.

The 30-year-old -- who has played53 Tests, 137 one-day internationalsand 38 Twenty20 internationals -- hasnot been cleared by the board to beconsidered for selection to the national

team since after the World Cup. While he was dropped after the

World Cup because of poor form, thePCB also had suspicions about his in-tegrity after the spot-fixing scandal sawthree Pakistani players, Salman Butt,Mohammad Asif and MohammadAamer first banned and then jailed fortheir role in it. "Kamran has now alsobeen cleared on the integrity form andgiven that he has regularly been play-ing domestic cricket and performingpretty consistently, he is now in line tobe considered for the one ODI and oneTwenty20 against Bangladesh later thismonth in Lahore," another source con-firmed.

The source said the move to getKamran cleared and bring him back tothe Pakistan team had begun whenPakistan were playing the one-day se-ries against england in the UAe.

"even former coach, Mohsin Khan,in a meeting with the PCB Chairmanand captain Misbah-ul-Haq, hadpleaded that the national team still

could make lot of use of the experienceand skills of Kamran Akmal," thesource said.

Kamran recently also played in theBangladesh Premier League and per-formed well for the Sylhet team alsocaptaining them in the last fewmatches.

Interestingly, Pakistan's formercaptain and senior batsman Moham-mad Yousuf has also started training atthe NCA but chief selector Iqbal Qasimmade it clear to the media in Karachithat while there was no issue withYousuf training but he had to performat the domestic level.

"It is good to hear that Yousuf istraining again as there is no doubtabout his quality as a player and hisservices to the national team are wellknown but if he wants to be consideredfor national selection once again he hasto prove his form and fitness onceagain," Qasim said. The chief selectoralso said that the same rule applied onAkmal.

Akamal cleared for selection PCB shouldconduct fitnesstests of umpires,says aleem Dar

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

The International Cricket Council (ICC)elite umpire Aleem Dar has advised thePakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to conductregular fitness tests of all the umpiresand to use kookaburra cricket ball in do-mestic cricket. “ICC carries out regulareye tests and hearing tests and it shouldalso be done in Pakistan particularly be-fore any major tournament,” Aleem toldPakpassion.net. Aleem said currently inPakistan the eye, hearing and fitness testsare not being performed on a regularbasis on umpires. “It is been quite a fewyears since I had my tests in Pakistan. Ithink my last hearing and eye test underthe supervision of the PCB was about 5 or6 years ago. At the moment the ICC arekeen to raise the levels of fitness amongstthe umpires and I think this should alsobe the case in Pakistan,” he said. Aleemsaid I have also told PCB to use the kook-aburra cricket ball in domestic cricket, aswhenever our cricketers use this ball inother countries they struggle to cope withit. These small things like the cricket balland the video recording are small butvery important things that can help Pak-istan cricket, he said. Talking about um-piring Aleem said to umpire in the Ashesseries is just something special. Umpir-ing in the Ashes series is very tough butI feel umpiring matches in your homecountry is much tougher than umpiringin any neutral series, he said.

FiH chief congratulatesPHF president

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

Leandro Negre, President InternationalHockey Federation (FIH) on his personalbehalf and on behalf of FIH executiveBoard has congratulated Qasim Zia, Presi-dent Pakistan Hockey Federation & Mem-ber FIH executive Board on achievingSitara-e-Imtiaz. Qasim received Star of ex-cellence distinction ad was presented to himby President of Pakistan Asi Ali Zardari inrecognition of his services rendered by himfor the uplift of our national game.

KARACHIAfP

Delighted Pakistani cricket fans, playersand politicians Monday welcomedBangladesh's decision to tour the trou-bled country and end its three-year exilefrom hosting international matches.

Bangladesh on Sunday agreed to ashort tour during which they will playone 50-over game and a Twenty20 in-ternational on April 29 and 30 in La-hore, a move hailed by former captainand current allrounder Shahid Afridi.

"It's a major breakthrough and avery good news for the whole nation,for Pakistan team and millions of fanswho have been deprived of interna-tional game for the last three years,"he said.

No international matches havebeen played in Pakistan since militantsattacked the Sri Lankan team bus dur-ing the Lahore Test in March 2009,leaving eight people dead and sevenvisiting players and an assistant coachinjured.

Foreign teams shunned Pakistanas a cricket venue after the attacks,forcing them to play their home serieson neutral venues, mostly in theUnited Arab emirates.

Pakistan's foreign minister HinaRabbani Khar praised the efforts ofPakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairmanZaka Ashraf to revive internationals.

"PCB's efforts have finally bornefruit and Bangladesh team's visit willhelp bring international cricket back toPakistan and will motivate more teamsto come to our country," Khar said.

Intikhab Alam, the PCB's directorof international cricket and a formernational coach and player, said theBangladesh tour could open the way forother teams to follow.

"PCB in the leadership of (Zaka)Ashraf was endeavouring to bringcricket back in the country and theBangladesh tour will be the beginningof a bigger thing in the future," Alamtold AFP.

But former Pakistan captain RashidLatif sounded a note of caution.

"We must not leave any loopholesin security because we cannot afford aminor mistake or any lapse in arrange-ments," said Latif. "Other teams willalso be motivated after Bangladeshtour but we have to make the bestarrangements."

Interior minister Rehman Malik re-iterated a promise to put in place strin-gent security measures for the

Bangladesh team."We will leave no stone unturned

and put in place the best possible secu-rity for the Bangladesh team as per ourpromise and make this tour an exem-plary one so that other teams also tourus," said Malik.

Despite Malik's assurances, formerInternational Cricket Council (ICC)chief ehsan Mani said greater effortswould be needed to convince biggerteams such as Australia, who have notvisited since 1998, that Pakistan wassafe to tour.

"Bangladesh tour is a small step butin the right direction. I think the PCBwill have to do more efforts to bringteams like Australia and India," he said.

But after three years without homematches at the highest level, Pakistan'sfans were ecstatic at the news.

"It will be great to watch interna-tional matches on our home ground,"said Hameed Ali, a student in Lahore.

"I cannot forget the dreadful at-tacks on the Sri Lankan team bus andwas due to watch that day's play.

"It's too early to say thatBangladesh's visit will help bring big-ger teams, but let's keep our fingerscrossed. I am waiting to get a ticket forthe April 30 game."

Pakistan hails Bangladesh seriesLaw to quit as Bangladesh coachDHAKA: Former Australian cricketer Stuart Lawsaid on Monday he would step down as Bangladeshcoach in June, citing family reasons for his surprisedecision to quit one year into a two-year contract.His announcement came a day after the Bangladeshcricket board said it planned a short tour later thismonth to Pakistan, where international cricket hasbeen suspended since a militant attack on the SriLankan team bus in March 2009. "My resignation ispurely for family reasons," Law, 43, told reportersin Dhaka, insisting that security concerns had notbeen a factor. "It has nothing to do with the Pak-istan tour," he said, adding that he would completea year on the job in June before heading to Australiato join his family. He declined to confirm whetherhe would travel with the national team which willplay a solitary one-dayer on April 29 and aTwenty20 international the next day -- both in La-hore. Bangladesh Cricket Board spokesman JalalYunus said Law should go to Pakistan. "The coach ispart of the team and he should travel with theteam," Yunus said. The 2009 attack on the SriLankan team in Lahore left eight people dead andseven visiting players and their assistant coachwounded. Pakistan's government has promised fool-proof security for the Bangladeshteam for the two matches in Lahore. Law's finest moment as coach came last monthwhen Bangladesh defeated India and Sri Lanka on way to the Asia Cup final in Dhaka,which they lost to Pakistan. Law, who played one Test and 54 one-day internationals forAustralia, had also served as an assistant coach for Sri Lanka under Trevor Bayliss. AfP

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

Members of the Pakistan cricket teamare yet to get their new central con-tracts and are also awaiting paymentsdating back to last four months. Ac-cording to the reports, the membersof the national team have not beenpaid their match fees, central contractretainers and other dues for the seriesagainst Bangladesh, england and theAsia Cup.

Reports quoted sources close tothe national team as saying that someof the players were getting concernedabout the long delay in clearance oftheir payments by the PakistanCricket Board.

"The dues include the match feesand other payments of the series againstBangladesh, england and the Asia Cupwhile the central contracts given toplayers last year also expired on Decem-ber 31 and for the last four months theplayers have also not got their central

contract monthly retainers," one sourcesaid. PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwarreported to have said while it was cor-rect that players had not been paidsome dues for the last few months butit was not an unusual situation.

"Payments for different series usu-ally take two to three months for clear-ance. And the players will get theircentral contract retainer paymentsfrom January 1, 2012 whenever theboard announces the new list of cen-trally contracted players," Sarwar said.

Interestingly, the Pakistani playershave been subjected to long delays inclearance of their dues since the tenureof former Chairman Ijaz Butt, whomade it clear that due to the refusal ofinternational teams to tour Pakistanbecause of security concerns, the PCB'sfinancial position was a difficult one.

A Board official admitted that dur-ing Butt's tenure, the earnings of thePCB were hit badly since the boardcould not earn much from 'home' seriesthat had to be played at neutral venues.

"Yes, it is true that when Butt was inpower the financial health of the boardwas not very good but in the last oneand half year a lot of money has come tothe PCB as part of our share of the dif-ferent ICC tournaments," he said.

The official said the PCB had alsogot compensation from the ICC afterlosing the right to host the matches inPakistan due to security concerns.

The PCB has said it intends to givea pay raise to the players in the newcentral contracts and for this purposehad constituted a committee headed byIntikhab Alam to make recommenda-tions. "The committee has given its rec-ommendations for pay raises but thematter will be finalised and the new listof contracted players will be announcedsoon after the Chairman of the boardreturns home after attending the ICCmeeting," a source said.

Players are expecting a pay raise of20 to 25 percent in their central con-tract retainers and also in their matchfees in all three formats of the game.

U-19 t20 PunjabLeague from May 5

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

The U19 T-20 Punjab Premier League willbe played here from May 5 at the GadaffiStadium. "The event is being organised byLahore Region Cricket Association in col-laboration with Punjab Government topromote cricket at grass root level", a LRCofficial was quoted by Associated Press ofPakistan. According to reports, this nine-day event will develop a passion of cricketamong youth as the matches will beplayed under lights. "A dozen of teams,comprising best talented players will fea-ture in the competition which is beingsponsored by Bank of Punjab," theyadded. They said LRCA is striving for thecause of cricket, specially at grass rootlevel by engaging the upcoming cricketersin a comprehensive activity and the T-20league is a part of it. " Punjab is rich incricket talent and through this event wewill be able to discover a pool young crick-eters who will be short listed for undergo-ing training to become quality cricketersin future ",he said. They said LRCA wouldsoon announce the selection process ofthe teams to feature in the league.

Cricketers yet toreceive pending dues

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:39 AM

sports 19tuesday, 17 april, 2012

PORT OF SPAINAfP

Australia were 267 for six at lunch on thesecond day of the second Test againstAustralia at Queen's Park Oval on Mon-day. Mike Hussey was not out 54 withJames Pattinson on 21. earlier, ShaneWatson hit a patient half-century as Aus-tralia reached 208 for five on the first dayof the Test. Mike Hussey, on 26, andMatthew Wade, with 11, were unbeatenat the close, putting on a useful 30-runpartnership after both men had surviveddropped catches. Watson was Australia'stop scorer, making a solid 56 in 219 min-

utes. "It was hard to get the pace of theball because it was very slow. Also the ballwas very soft," said Watson.

"The fields that (West Indies skipper)Darren Sammy set meant it was hard torotate the strike at times. I was trying todo everything I could to keep the score-board moving, but on a wicket like this itdoes make it difficult." The day was alsoa mini-triumph for Windies' off-spinnerShane Shillingford who came in for De-vendra Bishoo to play his first Test for 18months after having to undergo remedialwork on his action. He bowled 32 overs,taking two for 56, including opener DavidWarner in his first over. "It obviously felt

pretty good coming back to Test cricketand getting a wicket in my first over," hesaid. Australia, who won the first Test inBarbados by three wickets, decided toplay two spinners for the first time innearly four years, with Michael Beercoming in to partner Nathan Lyon.

Warner (29) and ed Cowan (28) puton 53 for the first wicket to provide thefoundation for Australia, while seamerKemar Roach was the pick of the WestIndies seam attack. He removed Cowanand later Ricky Ponting (seven) beforethe tea interval. Shillingford bowled thefirst over of spin in the match in the 15thover and had immediate success.

Warner did not quite get to thepitch of his fifth ball but continuedthrough with a drive and the ball cameoff the outside edge straight to Sammyat slip. Roach, who had opened thebowling from the Media Centre end,was brought back by Sammy at theBrian Lara Pavilion end for a couple ofovers before lunch.

Ufone sponsors LUMSSpecial Olympics 2012

ISLAMABAD STAff RePoRT

Ufone in collaboration with LUMS Com-munity Service Society and SpecialOlympics recently held Special Olympics2012 in LUMS with an aim to offer an ex-citing platform to those children who arephysically and mentally challenged andmotivate them to take part in activitiesand perform to a level where they acquirea sense of achievement. Around 400 stu-dents from 20 schools took part in theSpecial Olympics. Since each child had adistinctive disability, the SpecialOlympics team had organized differentkinds of activities for each category. From50 meters race to interactive activities forchildren on wheel chairs, the event en-sured that all children were catered for.The main objective of this event was to letthe special children have a taste of thepassion and excitement which everysportsman on the field experiences. Theevent received accolades from the chiefguests, Dr. Ali Khan and Professor JunaidAhmad from LUMS. The Chairman ofSpecial Olympics Anees ur Rehman wasextremely pleased with the set up. Presi-dent of LCSS Talha Naushad said, "TheLUMS Community Services Society is ex-tremely grateful for Ufone to have spon-sored the Special Children's OlympicsLahore Chapter Games." Akbar Khan,Chief Marketing Officer at Ufone saidthat it is always a pleasure to work withyoung children. Ufone has done immensework in the field of child health care.

raising awareness toremember those abroad

SEOULSTAff RePoRT

Over 400 expatriates representing thefour corners of the world joined togetherat Seoul Grand Park for a marathon on abeautiful spring afternoon. This marathonfocused on countries that have sufferedfrom a natural disaster on a large-scalewithin the past two years. It highlightedthe countries of Japan, Turkey, Thailand,Pakistan, Chile, and Haiti, where peopleare still recovering from catastrophes thatstruck their homes. Participants wereasked to choose a country to walk for asthey trekked the 10km around the zoo.Mannam International Running Clubmember Melvin Galera was proud totake part in this campaign. He sharesthat although he cannot personally go toJapan and help, he feels that he can sup-port them by taking part in thismarathon. “I feel for Japan and want togive them a message of hope,” thePhilippine native says. “Despite what’shappened, I believe you can move on.”

Security 2000 winMurree Brewery Polo

RAwALPINDISTAff RePoRT

Security 2000 won the 108th Murree Brew-ery Polo Trophy after an awe-inspiringmatch up with Master Tiles. Along side theAmerican Ambassador, Cameron Munter,the present at Race Course GroundRawalpindi included Murree Brewery’sChief executive Officer Isphanyar M. Bhan-dara and various other ambassadors. Important Army personalities were alsopresent at the event. The first round endedwith equal score for both sides, while thesecond was dominated, initially by Security2000 until Master Tiles player, Raja Samiscored an essential point to arrive at 1–1. Raja Taimoor scored the first goal in thethird round and Master Tiles Raja Samiequaled the score with 2–2. The same eventrepeated itself with Raja Taimoor taking Se-curity 2000 in the lead with a point andRaja Sami keeping his team at par. In the final round Security 2000 took leadwith half a goal and took away the trophy.The Referees of the match were ZulfiqarBaig and Talha.

raWaLPiNDi: Security 2000 team captainreceives trophy from the chief guest.

DUBAIReUTeRS

THe 2014 World Twenty20 tour-nament in Bangladesh will beexpanded from 12 to 16 teams,giving a boost to associate mem-

bers who want more involvement in theshortest format of the game, the Interna-tional Cricket Council said Monday.

The move comes less than a year afterthe ICC angered the associate members byrefusing to expand this year’s tournamentin Sri Lanka. The expanded tournamentmeans the 10 full members will be joinedby six qualifiers from the 95 remainingcricketing nations. The board also ap-proved three additional Twenty20 interna-tionals to be played in the years in which

the World Twenty20 is scheduled. Currentrules limit the number of T20 internation-als to a maximum of 12 per team.

“What excites me is the decision to ex-tend the World Twenty20 event, whichtakes place in 2014 in Bangladesh,” ICCchief executive Haroon Lorgat said. “I’msure that is very comforting to all associate(members) ... it provides them with agreater chance of competing on the globalstage.” However, the board postponed a de-cision on the Woolf report, which calls fora sweeping reforms of the ICC, until its nextmeeting in June. In a statement, the boarddecided there is “a real need for further dis-cussions” among the directors and mem-bers to “build a consensus.”

Lorgat agreed, saying “change in anyform is challenging and it would be unreal-

istic to expect immediate decisions.”The 68-page report, which was pre-

sented to the board earlier this year, callsfor overhauling the sport’s governing bodyto ensure the ICC is no longer “a club” forthe test playing nations. Instead, the ICCshould be “positioned and empowered topromote, develop and act in the best inter-ests of the international game as a whole,”the report concludes. Among its 65 recom-mendations are several that would reducethe influence of test-playing nations.

It calls for restructuring the ICC’s exec-utive board to make it independent andgive a greater voice to associate and affiliatenations. Currently, the 10 full members arethe only ones with a vote on the board butthe report recommends adding three inde-pendent, voting members and an inde-

pendent chairman to lead the board.The independent report also takes

aim at the ICC’s ethics and, in effect, thetest-playing nations with a number ofmeasures aimed at weeding out corrup-tion. It calls for all conflicts of interest tobe “declared, assessed and addressed”and that a director who has a conflict ofinterest and who stands to benefitshould be excluded from decision-mak-ing matters. India has been most vocalin opposing the report while Australiaand Pakistan have called for it to at leastbe discussed. None of the 10 full mem-bers have come out in favor of the re-port’s measures being adopted. Still, theboard earlier this year approved severaldecision that are in line with recommen-dations in the Woolf report.

ICC expands 2014 World T20

patient Watson stars asaustralia 267 for 6 at lunch

AUSTRAliA 1ST iNNiNGS: (oVeRNiGhT 208 foR 5)d. Warner c Sammy b Shillingford 29e. Cowan lbw b Roach 28S. Watson c Barath b Shillingford 56R. Ponting c Sammy b Roach 7M. Clarke c Shillingford b deonarine 45M. hussey not out 54M. Wade c Bravo b Roach 11J. Pattinson not out 21extras (b5, lb5, w1, nb5) 16Total (6 wickets for 112 overs) 267fall of wickets: 1-53 (Warner), 2-65 (Cowan), 3-83(Ponting), 4-167 (Clarke), 5-178 (Watson), 6-208 (Wade)Bowling: edwards 18-10-36-0 (1nb), Roach 25-5-96-3(1w, 3nb), Sammy 16-6-27-0, Shillingford 38-12-70-2(1nb), deonarine 15-3-28-1, Toss: Australia, Umpires:ian Gould (eNG), Marais erasmus (RSA), Match referee:Jeff Crowe (NZl), Third umpire: Tony hill (NZl)

SCoReBoARd

Port-of-Spain: australian batsman Shane Watson (2nd L) holds back teammate MichaelHussey (2nd r) as they run during the first day of the second-of-three test matches. afp

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:39 AM

sports20tuesday, 17 april, 2012

LONDONAfP

Here are the main venues for the 2012 Lon-don Games, which mark 100 days to go onApril 18. The sites will be centred aroundthe Olympic Park at Stratford in east Lon-don. Outside London, the football compe-tition will be held around Britain at Cardiff,Coventry, Glasgow, Manchester and New-castle. Slalom canoeing will take placenorth of the capital, with rowing and sprintcanoeing to the west and mountain bikingto the east. The sailing events take place atWeymouth on the southern english coast.

olYMPiC PARK VeNUeS, STAdiUMCapacity: 80,000, Sport: athletics (and will hostopening and closing ceremonies), venue: New,permanent, Location: Olympic Parkn Unlike Beijing's Bird's Nest, the showpiece stadium,costing £486 million ($790 million, 550 million euros),has a simpler design, drawn up with a view to scaling itdown after the games. the steel and concrete uppertier can be dismantled, leaving a 25,000-seater sunkenbowl. Construction was completed under budget inMarch 2011. East London football club West Ham is oneof four bidders for the lease once the games are over.

AqUATiCS CeNTReCapacity: 17,500, Sports: Diving, Swimming, Synchro-nised Swimming, Modern Pentathlon, venue: New, per-manent, Location: Olympic Parkn Designed by the architect Zaha Hadid, the £269 mil-lion centre has a 160-metre-long (525-foot-long) longwave-like roof. it contains a 50-metre competitionpool, a diving pool, and a warm-up pool. One of thefew Olympic-sized pools in Britain, it will be scaledback to 2,500 seats after the games. Has already heldthe 2012 Diving World Cup and the British SwimmingChampionships, where Paralympian Ellie Simmonds setthe venue's first world record.

RiVeRBANK AReNACapacity: 15,000, Sport: Hockey, venue: New, temporary,Location: Olympic Parkn the arena will hold 15,000 fans and has a warm-uppitch behind it. the blue and pink pitches have beenlaid, with the seating to be complete before a testevent in May. after the games, the hockey centre willmove to a 3,000-seater facility north of the park thatcan be extended to 15,000 for major events.

BASKeTBAll AReNACapacity: 12,000, Sports: Basketball, Handball, venue:New, temporary, Location: Olympic Parkn the fourth-largest venue on the park and one of the

largest-ever temporary venues built for any games.

Construction completed within the £43 million budget

in June 2011. the frame of 20 steel arches has been

wrapped in fabric to form the canvas for an innovative

lighting display. after the Olympics, parts of it are ex-

pected to be reused or relocated elsewhere in Britain.

CoPPeR BoXCapacity: 6,500, Sports: Handball, Modern Pentathlon

(fencing), venue: New, permanent, Location: Olympic Parkn the distinctive, £43 million copper-clad arena will

host the early handball rounds. the copper will de-

velop a rich colour as it ages. Completed in May 2011.

after the games, it will be converted into a multi-pur-

pose indoor sports centre for community use. it has re-

tractable seating.

VelodRoMeCapacity: 6,000, Sports: track Cycling, venue: New,

permanent, Location: Olympic Parkn the lower tier has 3,500 seats, with the rest sus-

pended in two upper tiers under the curved roof. in be-

tween, a glass wall will allow people to watch the

action from outside. Costing £93 million, it was com-

pleted in February 2011 and held a leg of the track Cy-

cling World Cup in February this year. australia's anna

Meares and Kaarle McCulloch set the first world record

at the velodrome on February 17 in the team sprint. it

was nominated for the 2011 Stirling Prize, Britain's most

prestigious architecture award.

WATeR Polo AReNACapacity: 5,000, Sport: Water Polo, venue: New, tem-porary, Location: Olympic Parkn Construction was completed in april. the wedge-shaped venue is covered in a silver-coloured wrap andits sloping roof made from air-inflated plastic cushions.it features a warm-up pool inside. the arena will betaken down after the games and parts of it are ex-pected to be reused within Britain.

oTheR KeY VeNUeSCapacity: 30,000, Sport: tennis, venue: Existing,permanent, Location: Southwest Londonn the home of the Wimbledon championships will hostthe entire tennis tournament. Centre Court, datingback to 1922, has a 15,000-seater capacity and a re-tractable roof, enabling play during rain or bad light.Court One can host 11,500 spectators.

NoRTh GReeNWiCh AReNACapacity: 20,000, Sports: gymnastics (artistic, tram-poline), Basketball finals, venue: Existing, permanent,Location: Southeast Londonn Once known as the Millennium Dome, this arena cost£789 million to build but lay idle for years after theMillennium Experience exhibition in 2000. Eventuallytaken into private hands, it was transformed into ahighly successful sports and entertainment arena withshops, restaurants a nightclub and a cinema.

F1: Mercedes baskin ‘historic’ day

SHANGHAIAfP

Mercedes savoured a "historic" moment onSunday in China after Nico Rosberg blitzedhis way to his maiden win at the 111th at-tempt and the first for the team since the1955 Italian Grand Prix. The German tookthe chequered flag with a margin of over20 seconds from the second-placedMcLaren of Jenson Button, off-setting thedisappointing retirement of team-mateMichael Schumacher, forced out after apit-lane blunder. Rosberg's confident dis-play also comes 111 years after Mercedes'first win, at the 1901 Nice Speedweeks. The24-year-old, who pumped his fists as hecrossed the finishing line and shouted"easy! easy!", said when at least a little ofthe emotion had died down: "This is a veryspecial moment for me. The whole week-end went perfectly. "My first pole position,now my first win in Formula One -- it re-ally is fantastic. But it's not only this; it'sthe first win for the new Silver Arrow andfor this great team. That is really special forme." He added: "I will never forget thisrace, and the last 20 laps felt as long as if Iwas racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours! Butthen crossing the line was so intense. "Wewill enjoy this success, but our feet are stillon the ground. "We are still not where wewant to be, we are still working hard to un-derstand the car and the tyres in all condi-tions, and we will keep pushing to improveour race pace even further."

Lahore club win LUMSSuper 10’s rugby

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

The Lahore Rugby football club won theLUMS Super 10’s Rugby Championshiphere Lums rugby ground in Lahore. LRFCbeat Rising Sun by 17-5, a good day forrugby Arslan and Abdullah scores triesfrom LRFC, quality rugby played by allteams. According to details in quarter-fi-nals LRFC trashed Lums by 36-0. RisingSun beat UMT 55-0, DHA Wild Bears lostagainst Gladiators by 5-21, Sindh RugbyClub won against Fast University Islam-abad by 17-0. In Plate semi-finals DHAWild bears beat Lums by 24-10 and Fastuniversity Islamabad trash UMT 7-0. Inbowl final DHA Dragons punish Garri-sions with 34-0 and in Plate final DHAwild bears beat Fast University Islamabadby 19-5. In cup 1st semi final LahoreRugby foot ball club and Gladiators playedsome fantastic rugby. Crowed cheers a loton quality rugby provided by both sided inthe end LRFC hold there nerves and wonby 5-0 close game. In 2nd semi final Ris-ing sun trash out Sindh rugby club by 20-0and sindh rugby played third fourth matchagainst Gladiators. Gladiators much betterteam won 3rd position by 24-0. Mainfinal played with lot of colorful crowed.Lahore rugby football club is favorites towin this cup and they prove that butother hand rising sun played some extraordinary rugby and gave though time toLRFC. LRFC won by 17-5. In concludingceremony Pakistan rugby union presi-dent Fawzi Kawaja with Rizwan malik,Asad babar and Khurram haroon dis-tributed the cup and medals to players.

ShANGhAI: Mercedes-AMG driver Nico Rosberg of

Germany (front-C) leads his teammate Mercedes-AMG

driver Michael Schumacher of Germany (behind) and

other cars during the start of Formula One’s Chinese

Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit. AFP

1. Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes) 1hr 36mins 26.929sec2. Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren) at 20.6263. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) at 26.0124. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull) at 27.9245. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull) at 30.4836. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus) at 31.4917. Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams) at 34.5978. Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams) at 35.6439. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari) at 37.25610. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber) at 38.72011. Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber) at 41.06612. Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India) at 42.27313. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) at 42.77914. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus) at 50.57315. Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Force India) at 51.21316. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso) at 51.75617. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso) at 1:03.15618. Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham) at 1 lap19. Timo Glock (GER/Marussia) at 1 lap20. Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia) at 1 lap

foRMUlA oNe: ChiNeSe GRANd PRiX ReSUlTS

Venues for the 2012 London Games

LONDONAfP

Queen elizabeth II will declare the Lon-don Olympics open on July 27 but whilethe stadiums are ready with 100 days togo, question marks hang over the securityof the Games and transport.

When the flame is lit, London will be-come the first city in the modern era tohost the Olympics three times, having al-ready had the honour in 1908 and 1948.

Last time the event came to London,Britain was still gripped by the effects ofWorld War II which had ended barelythree years earlier and the makeshift ap-proach earned it the label the "austerityGames".

With Britain's economy still in thedoldrums, austerity will leave its mark onthese Olympics too, albeit to a far lesser

extent than in 1948, when competitorswere housed in military barracks and uni-versity dormitories.

Despite a budget of £9.3 billion($14.8 billion, 11.2 billion euros), theGames will be on more modest scale thanthe spectacular 2008 Beijing Olympics atwhich China announced its growingglobal presence.

"We are not coming out as a super-power," noted Britain's Olympics Minis-ter Hugh Robertson.

Prime Minister David Cameron isnevertheless promising "the greatestshow on earth" and "a celebration ofeverything that's great about Britain".

The job of putting the stamp ofBritishness on the opening ceremony hasbeen handed to Danny Boyle, the directorof the multiple Oscar-winning "SlumdogMillionaire".

With the theme "Isles of Wonder",Boyle has promised a fitting curtainraiser before 10,500 competitors from204 countries do battle.

When the sport begins, one of the bigquestions is whether China can maintainits performance of four years ago whenon home soil it topped the medals tablefor the first time.

Two of the stars of those Olympicsare set to make a huge impact again, withJamaican sprinter Usain Bolt likely to bethe face of the Games, closely followed byUS swimmer Michael Phelps, who woneight golds in China.

London's bid was based on the prom-ise that hosting the Games would leave alasting legacy for the city. The Interna-tional Olympic Committee believes it hasachieved its aim so far -- the residents'verdict will only come later.

iStaNBUL: File picture of Britain's tiffany Porter celebrates her silver medal in the women's 60mhurdles final at the 2012 iaaF World indoor athletics Championships at the atakoy athletics arena. afp

Transport, security big questions 100 days from London

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:39 AM

sports 21tuesday, 17 april, 2012

MONACO AGeNCieS

NOVAK Djokovic's bid tobecome French Openchampion starts at theMonte Carlo Masters,

where he will attempt to end RafaelNadal's long dominance and show theSpaniard that he has nowhere left tohide — not even on clay. Nadal haswon at Monte Carlo since 2005, andgone on to win the French Open everyyear except 2009. But the six-timeFrench Open champion has lost inseven straight finals to Djokovic, in-cluding the last three Grand Slam fi-nals. Djokovic also handed Nadal hisonly two losses on clay last year, in theMadrid and Rome Masters.

Victory in Monte Carlo would beeven sweeter for Djokovic, given thatNadal has won 37 consecutivematches there and holds a 39-1record. "Nadal is the ultimate chal-lenge on clay. He's the King of Clay,the best player ever to play on this sur-face, and one of the best tennis playersever," Djokovic said Sunday. "Win-ning in back-to-back finals againstRafa gives me a lot of confidence com-ing into the season now."

The second-ranked Nadal is with-out a title since winning last year'sFrench Open. He was also without atitle in 2011 heading into Monte Carlo,then went on to win here and theFrench Open. Unlike the oppressiveatmosphere of jam-packed RolandGarros in bustling western Paris, theMonte Carlo Country Club's peacefulclay-courts overlooking the glitteringMediterranean sea are like a secondhome for Nadal. It's where it allstarted for him as a 16-year-old, when

an astonishing victory over formerFrench Open champion Albert Costapropelled him into the spotlight. Nineyears later, he is the star everyonewants to beat. "Nadal probably playshis best tennis in Monte Carlo, outsideof Paris," Djokovic said. "I believe theconditions here are slower comparedto Madrid, which is altitude, (and to)Rome, Paris. Maybe that works in hisfavor more." Not even 16-time GrandSlam champion Roger Federer couldtopple him here. At the peak of hisform, the Swiss star still found no an-swer, losing to Nadal in the final from

2006-08. Others, like Fernando Ver-dasco, were simply routed — theSpaniard managing to take just onegame off Nadal in the 2010 final.

But the top-ranked Djokovic,who lost to Nadal in the 2009 MonteCarlo final, is ready to end theSpaniard's run, and to continue hiscrushing recent dominance over the10-time Grand Slam champion.Overall, Nadal leads their series 16-14 but has not beaten Djokovic sincea group-stage match at the 2010 ATPFinals in London. "The momentumturned, but the (previous) years it

was always Nadal and Federer com-ing on top," Djokovic said. "This is al-ways happens at this level, themomentum changes. We'll see howthat is going to play out in the fu-ture." With six weeks to go until theFrench Open, the 24-year-old Serbknows he can strike a huge blow toNadal's confidence and keep his re-lentless momentum going by win-ning at Monte Carlo. Djokovic openshis campaign in the second roundagainst either Andreas Seppi or aqualifier, while Nadal faces RadekStepanek or Jarkko Nieminen.Britain's Andy Murray, who took aset off Nadal in an exciting semifinallast year, is seeded third and playsSerb Viktor Troicki in round two.Murray feels confident heading intothe clay season, having also reachedthe semifinals at the Rome Mastersand the French Open.

"Last year, throughout prettymuch all the clay-court season, I feltway better (than previous years). Itwasn't just the French Open. Itstarted here, I had a very good run,"Murray said. "It was character build-ing in a way, because I started play-ing well again after struggling inMiami, and I had my problem in myelbow and couldn't play for a week."

Murray could meet TomasBerdych of the Czech Republic in thequarterfinals, but is wary of facingTroicki. Murray beat the Serb in fivesets to win their fourth-round matchat the French Open last year. "It wasone of my toughest matches lastyear," Murray said. "I was trailingtwo sets to love, and it was starting toget a little bit dark. I managed to getmyself back into the match." Federeris not playing in the tournament.

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

The Government College UniversityLahore has clean swept the LahoreBoard Inter-collegiate SwimmingChampionship hosted by the FCCUniversity Lahore under the patron-age of Lahore Board of Intermediateand Secondary education.

The team GCU triumphed in all15 events of the championship whichinclude 100 meters free style, 100meters breaststroke, 100 metersbackstroke, 4 × 100 free style relayand breast stroke relay. GCU securedrecord 275 points in the competition,while FCC University secured thesecond point 155 points whereas Su-perior College and Defense DegreeCollege bagged the third position

with only 49 points. GCU student Hassan Kamran

also won the title of Best Swimmercourtesy his grand 12 goals and 150points. Ameen Ali Khan, another Ra-vian, bagged the title of fastest swim-

mer of the championship. GCU ViceChancellor Prof. Dr. MuhammadKhaleequr Rahman congratulatedHassan Kamran and Ameen Ali Khanon their extraordinary performancein the championship.

GCU wins swimming championship

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

In all 25 martial art players will beawarded belts in different cate-gories of ju-jitsu by the Pakistan Ju-jitsu Federation, at Allama IqbalMedical college auditorium.

"The martial art players havebeen categorised in different beltsas per their showing in the belt testheld recently," said Khalid Khan,PPJJF said.

He said 45 players are attend-ing the national training camp fromwhich twenty five have qualified forthe belts.

"From the same camp we will beselecting our national team to takepart in South Asia Ju-jitsu champi-onship being held in August inIndia," Khalil was quoted by Associ-ated Press of Pakistan as saying

Director General, Sports BoardPunjab, Usman Anwar will be thechief guest to award belts.

Following will receive the belts,Black Belt 2nd Dan: ShabeenaSaeed, Black Belt 1st Dan: FarahRiaz , Shumaila Tasneem; AqeelAhmed Jamil. Mohammad YousafRaza, Sohail M.Chaudhry.Blue Belt:Hamza Khalil, Asif Anwar, RashidMahmood, Ahsan Ahmad.GreenBelt: Zain Khalil, Muhmmad Mum-taz, Ishfaq Ahmed, MohammadMumtaz, Mehbbob Shah.

Orange Belt: Sonia Manzoor,Sajjad Munawar, Abdul Razzaq,Ahsan Mahmood, MohammadImran, Shahid Abbas, Sajjid Nawaz,Tariq Latif, Muhammad Munawar.Yellow Belt: Aurooj Fatima, AnsarAbbas, Babar Naeem, Syed HassanShah, Mohammad Imran, YasirAbbas, Kaleem ullah.

Judo camp startstoday at islamabad

LAHORESTAff RePoRT

The Pakistan Judo Federation has gotthe services of a foreign coach SajjadKazemi who at last received Pakistanvisa. Kazemi, a Black-Belt III-DONplayer, has served as national coach forjunior national team at Kazakistan –2010 and had availed different techni-cal workshop diplomas. The 14-udokas(Male) & 14-Judakas (Female)of different weight categories i.e. -60Kg, -66Kg, -73Kg, -81Kg, -90Kg, -100Kg and +100 Kg (from MeN) and-48 Kg, -52 Kg, -57Kg, -63Kg, -70Kg, -78Kg and +78Kg (From Women) ofprominent department of Pakistan areparticipating. In the first phase, chanceof training will be given to the gold andsilver medal winners in the 21st Seniorand 5th Women National Judo Cham-pionship-2011 and 2012. The camp willbe a great training opportunity foryoung ones specially.

Belt awardingceremony of ju-jitsu

MONtE-CarLO: Serbian world number one player Novak Djokovic (L) receivesthe vermeil Medal for Physical Education and Sports from Prince's albert ii ofMonaco (r) during the Monte-Carlo atP Masters Series tournament. afp

Djokovic aims to endNadal’s reign in Monte Carlo

MUNiCH: Bayern Munich's Dutch midfielder arjen robben (C) speeks with Brazilian defender rafinha(r) next to midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger during a training session on the eve of the UEFaChampions League first-leg semi-final football match. afp

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:39 AM


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

ISLAMABADAPP

PReSIDeNT Asif Ali Zardarion Monday said the PakistanPeople’s Party had endured ablatant “campaign of slan-der”, but the party had de-

cided to let the people judge thegovernment’s performance.

“Let them judge whether we have beencriticized justly or subjected to a campaignof slander,” Zardari said while addressingthe 22nd APNS Award Ceremony at thePresidency on Monday.

He said they had decided not to be pro-voked and would not be provoked in thefuture, adding that “we have not taken any

action against anyone and will continuewith the same”. The president said we haveextended the hand of friendship to all po-litical forces, the media and all stakehold-ers and felt satisfied that this policy of thegovernment had started paying dividends.

He said, “Our people are wise and letus not underestimate their wisdom. Theycan differentiate between freedom of ex-pression and an organized campaign ofslander and that the people respond intheir own ways. They respond by placingtheir trust or withdrawing it.” The presi-dent said the party was proud of its recordin giving the country a consensus constitu-tion as for the first time in 25 years afterindependence. He said they had even beena subject to campaigns of character assas-

sination and “now the prime minister andhis family members are the latest target ofa smear campaign”.

“Yousaf Raza Gilani has become a tar-get ever since he raised the slogan ofSeraiki province and ever since he stood byme. Before that, he was acceptable. Butsince he started supporting me and theSeraiki province, he has become unaccept-able,” Zardari said. The president said thefuture of Pakistan was inextricably linkedto continuation of democracy, adding thatthe PPP was a party of the masses and ithad been proven time and again.SALARIES: Zardari urged the All Pak-istan Newspapers Society (APNS) to lookinto the issues of payment of salaries toworkers and journalists, besides imple-

mentation of the 8th Wage Board Awardand the setting up of the 9th Wage Board.

Recalling his meeting with the APNSlast year and the demands raised therein,Zardari expressed pleasure that the PressCouncil of Pakistan had since been set upand its chairman had been appointed. Hesaid that it was now for the Press Councilto move forward and move fast in consul-tation with all stakeholders, adding that“we look forward to the progress the coun-cil will be making in the months and yearsahead”. Commenting on the second de-mand of the APNS, the president ex-pressed pleasure that the Ministry ofInformation had taken the ownership ofthe Freedom of Information Act from theCabinet Division and said that there was

consensus to repeal the old ordinance of2002, and bring in a new act of parliament.

The president said he believed in pro-viding genuine access to information forthe sake of transparency and accountabil-ity and called upon the Information Min-istry to expedite finalization of the bill andits tabling in the parliament at the earliest.

Referring to the current energy issues,the president said the government wasconscious of the problems that still neededto be resolved, including the energy crisis.“The energy crisis is the result of the circu-lar debt that was left behind by the previ-ous government,” the president, addingthat during Benazir’s second government,Pakistan had surplus electricity and couldeven export power to India.

PPP has put its case in people’s court: Zardari g President says PM being targeted for raising slogan of Seraiki province, standing by him g asks aPNS to look into issues of payment of salaries to journalists, set up 9th Wage Board

NEw DELHIoNliNe

Pakistan now trusts New Delhi morethan ever before and believes theKashmir dispute cannot be aroadblock, Foreign Minister HinaRabbani Khar said on Monday. In aninterview with Hindustan Times, shesaid both countries had never beenthis close in the past. “We trust Indiamore in whatever we do. We are clearon this,” Khar said. She said althoughthe Kashmir issue needed to beresolved, it need not be the point ofstart. “Our intention is to solve the(Kashmir) problem. But let us startwith the less complicated problems.We will deal with our differences in adifferent mode,” Khar said. OnIndian Prime Minister ManmohanSingh’s much-anticipated but yetundecided trip to Pakistan, she said,“This only states the clear directionof our foreign policy that we will not

let go any desire from Indiaunattended.” Khar said it was time“we not get bogged down by the oldmindset”. She said Pakistan wasturning a new leaf. “Should the

political mindset adopt or co-opt themilitary mindset? Issues are dealtwith military mindset alright, but theproblems are ultimately solved by apolitical mindset.”

ISLAMABADSTAff RePoRT

Hearing a plea seeking the registration of asecond FIR in Benazir Bhutto murder case,the Supreme Court on Monday observed thatInterior Minister Rehman Malik should disso-ciate himself from the official post until thecompletion of the investigation into the case,as his involvement in the murder was claimedby the applicant.

The court also inquired from deputy attor-ney general that despite spending millions ofdollars, why had the federal government notpublished the United Nations (UN) investiga-tion report into the BB murder case.

The court said it was unfortunate thatthe PPP of Benazir Bhutto was in powerbut it was opposing the registration of afresh FIR for further investigation of thecase. A three-member bench of Chief Jus-tice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, JusticeKhilji Arif Hussain and Justice TariqParvez was hearing a plea filed byChaudhry Aslam, former protocol officer ofthe Benazir Bhutto, seeking the registra-tion of a second FIR into the BenazirBhutto murder case. Aslam sought the reg-istration of a second FIR against 12 re-spondents, including former president GenMusharraf, former Punjab chief ministerChaudhry Pervez elahi, Interior MinisterRehman Malik, former law minister BabarAwan, then acting interior minister Lt-Gen(r) Hamid Nawaz, former director generalof the Intelligence Bureau Ijaz HussainShah, former interior secretary Syed KamalShah, former spokesman of Interior Min-istry Brig (r) Javed Iqbal Cheema, formerRawalpindi DCO Irfan elahi and the for-mer Rawalpindi SSP.

During the hearing, the CJ questionedhow could fair investigation be expected whenan accused person was sitting on top of affairs.He observed that Malik should appear to saythat he was ready to disassociate himself fromthe official post and face the investigation intoBB’s murder.

The CJ observed that it was sad thatthe government was making all efforts thata fresh FIR was not registered againstKamal Shah, Javed Iqbal Cheema and oth-ers. earlier, the court was informed thattwo respondents, Rehman Malik and Per-vez elahi, had opposed the registration ofthe second FIR.

In his para wise comments, Malik said allthe accused had already been arrested in thiscase, therefore, there was no need to registera second FIR. Anwar Mansoor Khan, counselfor Malik, requested the bench that hewanted to file a reply, therefore, the case maybe adjourned for a week. He contended thatthe applicant wanted to hush up BB’s murdercase, therefore, he had moved an applicationwith malafide intention after the passage ofthree years.

He said the applicant was not an aggrievedperson in the case; therefore a fresh case couldnot be registered on his application. JusticeKhilji Arif Hussain then said the applicant wasa worker of the party as well as an eyewitnessof the incident on December 27, 2007; there-fore he was an aggrieved person in the case.

Meanwhile, Rasheed A Rizvi, counsel forthe applicant, stated that the government hadnot conducted investigations in view of the UNreport. He said although the government wasseeking opinion in the 40 year-old-case of Zul-fikar Ali Bhutto, it was not interested in re-opening the BB murder case, which was afresh one.

‘Malik should quit officeuntil BB murder probe’

Pakistan trusts india morethan ever, says hina khar

loGAR: Afghan policemen walk outside a building on Monday from which Taliban fighters launched an attack a day earlier. online

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to appeasestrong PPP MNAs who have thepotential to win the next generalelections, President Asif Ali Zardariadministered oath to another fourministers of state in a quiet ceremonyheld at the Presidency on Monday.eleven ministers, who have recentlytaken oath, are still waiting for newportfolios which are expected to be

allocated to them in a day or two. Thenew ministers are Sardar SaleemHyder, Dost Mohammad Mazari,Moazzam Ali Khan Jatoi and ImtiazSafdar Warraich. However, there wasno official word from the president’smedia team. Hyder and Warraichhave been picked from northern andcentral parts of Punjab and they werea part of Gilani’s previous cabinet

which was slashed in the name of the18th constitutional amendment.Mazari and Jatoi come from DG Khanwhich falls in Southern Punjab. Anofficial source told Pakistan Todaythat oath had been administered butdue to unknown reasons, no pressrelease was issued. Portfolios for newministers would be allocated alongwith rest of the ministers. staff report

Another 4 tAke oAth AS MiniSterS oF StAte

KHI 17-04-2012_Layout 1 4/17/2012 2:39 AM

Pakistan Today Karachi Edition 17th April

Documents

Transcript of Pakistan Today Karachi Edition 17th April