Ajmal Kasab’s trial begins in India

MUMBAI: The trial of the only surviving gunman in the bloody Mumbai siege began Friday with the prosecutor calling the attacks ‘a criminal conspiracy hatched in Pakistan to attack India,’ AP reported.

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said at least one Pakistani military officer was involved in the attack and its sophistication suggested the involvement of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency.

Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani, is charged with 12 criminal counts, including murder and waging war against India. Prosecutors say Kasab and nine other gunmen who were killed during the siege are responsible for the deaths of 166 people and injuring 304 more.

‘There was a criminal conspiracy hatched in Pakistan to attack India,’ Nikam said, with the ‘ultimate target of capturing Jammu and Kashmir, which is part and parcel of India.’

The Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistani but claimed by both, has long been at the center of the bitterness between the two South Asian rivals.

The prosecutor vowed to get to ‘the root of terror’ and said the identity of all those involved would be revealed through the ongoing investigation.

Nikam alleged the November attacks were masterminded by the Muslim militant group Lashkar-i-Taiba with the help of at least one Pakistani military officer. He said the plot was made possible by a ‘terrorist culture’ that had taken root in Pakistan.

Lashkar-i-Taiba is widely believed to have been created by Pakistani intelligence agencies in the 1980s to fight Indian rule in Kashmir.

Pakistani officials have acknowledged that the November attacks were partly plotted on their soil and announced criminal proceedings against eight suspects. They have also acknowledged that Kasab is Pakistani but have repeatedly denied their intelligence agencies were involved in the attack.

The prosecution began after the judge dismissed a motion from Kasab’s defense lawyer, Abbas Kazmi, to move the trial to a juvenile court. Kazmi, who had been appointed Kasab’s attorney just the day before, said his client was 16 years old — and legally a minor — at the time of the attack.

Kasab told Indian investigators he was born in September 1987, which would have made him 21 when the siege took place.

Kasab’s two co-defendants, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, are Indian nationals charged with helping plot the attacks. Their lawyer maintains that they are innocent.

Meanwhile, Kasab’s defence counsel said his client wished to retract his confession, claiming it was obtained under duress.

‘On his instruction, a retraction application has been filed, retracting the so-called alleged confession,’ said Abbas Kazmi.

‘He’s going to plead not guilty,’ he added.

The lawyer told reporters that Kasab claimed the confession, made to a local magistrate while he was in police custody, was ‘extracted out of coercion and force and it was not a voluntary confession.’ He quoted Kasab as claiming he had been ‘physically tortured.’

Court officials say they hope the case will be finished in six months to a year — which would be extremely fast by the standards of major Indian trials.

The trial for India’s deadliest terror attack, the 1993 Mumbai bombings that killed 257 people, took 14 years to complete.

Student arrested in UK seeks consular service

LONDON, April 17: One of the Pakistani students arrested in last week’s anti-terrorism raids, Janas Khan, has sought Pakistan High Commission’s consular service.

Meanwhile, the high commission has also obtained the names of four solicitors who are representing seven of the arrested students who have refused the offer of consular services. The commission is trying to contact the students through their solicitors.

Sources in the high commission said that the remaining two Pakistani students had refused consular services and have also requested authorities not to involve their families in the matter.All 12 persons were arrested on April 8 on suspicion of being involved in hatching plots to stage terrorist acts in the UK.

One, whose identity is yet to be established but believed to be a Bangladeshi, was released on the very second day, and of the remaining 11 still in custody, one is said to be Afghan national.

The UK authorities have so far not shared with Pakistani authorities even preliminary information about the students like their names, home addresses and the names of the institutions where these students were studying and the subjects they were studying; when they arrived in the UK and when do their visas expire.

Ignoring Pakistan’s request to either put those arrested on trial, or to allow them to remain in the country to continue their studies, the UK authorities are said to have decided to let the police continue their investigation.

There has also been talk of deporting some of the arrested students against whom actionable evidence is not likely to be found.

Under the law, police could keep the suspects in custody for 28 days. So, police has 18 days more to marshal the required evidence to charge them.

Sighatullah Kadri, QC, a British lawyer of Pakistani origin, answered in the affirmative when asked if the UK authorities could deport the students even if the charges under which they were arrested were not found valid.

He said perhaps the police had arrested these students only on the basis of taped ‘incriminating’ conversation, but since taped conversation is not admissible in the court of law and also the MI5 itself would not like to use this evidence in the court fearing exposing its methods of investigations, the police is finding itself in a fix. “They do not want to let the suspects go scot-free because of what evidence they have but they cannot also keep them under detention beyond 28 days without coming up with actionable evidence.”

LHC adjourns sine die hearing of Justice Bilal related contempt case

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) full bench has adjourned here indefinitely the hearing of the contempt case related to Justice Bilal, giving time for the respondents Ansar Abbasi, Editor Investigation, The News and others to file their reply.

Barrister, Aitzaz Ahsan, Asadullah Siddiqui and other lawyers appeared in the court on behalf of Ansar Abbasi and other respondents.

Gojranawala RPO, Zulfiquar Cheema in his statement in the court said, “can’t even think of contempt of court.” He said that infamous Nannho Goraya was interrogated by a police team headed by the officer of a rank of SP and he couldn’t even think that he (Nanno Goraya) would give a statement relating to a judge of the superior court. He said, “Either I would have concealed this statement or bring it to the notice of the concerned officials and being a responsible police officer I had sent this report to the chief of the superior court.”

Cover blown on CIA’s harsh interrogation techniques

WASHINGTON, April 17: President Barack Obama on Thursday blew the lid on harsh CIA terror interrogations approved by ex-president George W. Bush, including the use of insects, simulated drowning, and sleep deprivation.

But despite releasing four partially blacked-out memos detailing the tactics, Mr Obama said operatives who carried out the interrogations would not be prosecuted, saying they acted on orders and were defending their country.

The memos offered a stunning glimpse inside the covert interrogation programme introduced after the September 11 attacks in 2001, which critics say equated to torture, and Mr Obama said undermined America’s moral authority.

The memos were written by the then Bush administration’s legal officials and made the case that a long list of coercive techniques did not equal torture as they did not amount to the infliction of severe mental or physical pain.

Detailing methods used to question Al Qaeda terror suspects, the memos reveal the use of dietary manipulation, forced nudity, facial and abdominal slaps, and the use of confined or “stress positions” for suspects.

In one technique known as “walling,” interrogators could push a suspect against a false wall, so his shoulder blades hit the wall with a loud noise, to make him think the impact is greater than in reality.

The memos also show interrogators asked for a ruling on whether the placing of a harmless insect in a cramped box with Al Qaeda terror suspect Abu Zubaida equated to torture.

The technique “certainly does not cause physical pain” and therefore could not be termed as torture and should be permissible, one of the memos said.

Similarly, techniques included waterboarding or simulated drowning, walling and sleep deprivation also fell short of torture, the memos said.

Another memo details a ‘prototypical interrogation,’ which begins with a detainee stripped of his clothes, shackled, and hooded, “with the walling collar over his head and around his neck.”

“The interrogators remove the hood and explain that the detainee can improve his situation by cooperating and may say that the interrogators will do what it takes to get important information,” the document said.

“As soon as the detainee does anything inconsistent with the interrogators’

instructions, the interrogators use an insult slap or abdominal slap.

“They employ walling if it becomes clear that the detainee is not cooperating in the interrogation.”

In a statement, Mr Obama said the tactics adopted by the administration of his predecessor George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks in 2001 “undermine our moral authority and do not make us safer.”

He said he was releasing the documents to avoid “an inaccurate accounting of the past,” which would “fuel erroneous and inflammatory assumptions about actions taken by the United States.”

Mr Obama stressed that the interrogators would not be prosecuted for their work.“In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution,” he said.

“The men and women of our intelligence community serve courageously on the front lines of a dangerous world,” he said. “We must protect their identities as vigilantly as they protect our security, and we must provide them with the confidence that they can do their jobs.”

Attorney-General Eric Holder, meanwhile, said that the government would provide legal representation to any CIA employee involved in the interrogations in any state or federal court case brought against them.

The memos were authored by Jay Bybee and Steven Bradbury, who at the time were lawyers for Mr Bush’s Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that intense debate was under way within the new administration over whether to release the memos.

The report said Attorney-General Holder and others in the Justice Department had argued aggressively in favour of release, but the CIA countered that disclosure of such secrets would undermine its credibility and effectiveness.

The day after taking office, Mr Obama ordered the closing of the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay within a year and the immediate cessation of the special interrogation regime used by the CIA.—AFP

Pakistan, China vow to fight terrorism

SANYA (China), April 17: President Asif Ali Zardari and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed on Friday to jointly fight terrorism and resolved to strengthen bilateral ties in economic, defence and energy sectors.

President Zardari met the Chinese leader after he arrived here from Tokyo to attend the annual Boao Forum.

Premier Wen Jiabao said China would help Pakistan safeguard its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

President Zardari and Premier Wen Jiabao discussed a range of strategic and economic matters.

President Zardari said Pakistan and China enjoyed a high degree of mutual trust, understanding and convergence of views on bilateral, regional and international issues and called for translating the deep strategic partnership into a robust trade and investment relationship.

During his three-day stay, President Zardari will deliver a keynote speech at the plenary session of the BFA on ‘Asia: managing beyond crisis’ and hold meetings with several leaders.

Premier Wen said it was high time to address the global economic crisis and find a way to counter its impact on developing economies.—APP

Trust deficit remains: US

WASHINGTON, April 17: The United States said on Friday that although it had made a generous aid pledge to Pakistan in Tokyo, relations between the two countries did suffer from a trust deficit.

“There’s no question that there are issues of trust”, between the US and Pakistan, State Department spokesman Robert Wood told a briefing in Washington. “We’re working hard to try to resolve them. And there’s a commitment on both sides to try to deal with that question.”

Earlier on Friday, the State Department issued a statement saying that the $1 billion pledged in Tokyo were “a down payment” on a $1.5 billion annual aid package already introduced in the US Congress.

The pledge made in Tokyo is also “subject to Congressional approval”, the State Department said.

Asked if the Tokyo conference provided an opportunity to repair the trust deficit between the two countries, Mr Wood said the US would continue to work with Pakistan to resolve the issues of trust.

“I’m not going to say that the issue of trust is going to be resolved overnight. It’s not. But it takes action on the part of both governments to try to deal fairly and squarely with a lot of these issues that confront us,” he said.

“And so it’s something we’ll continue to work on. But indeed, there is that issue of trust,” he added.

Mr Wood said that the stakes were “very high” and the US needed to work with Pakistan on trying to prevent the Taliban from wreaking more havoc, on not only Pakistan but Afghanistan in particular.

“Our goals, obviously, are to do what we can to support the government of Pakistan and its efforts to try to bring about, you know, economic development and further democracy in the country,” the spokesman said.

The United States, he said, also wanted to ensure that most of the money given to Pakistan went to its people.

“It’s something that the president and the secretary want to make sure happens. And we’re going to continue to work that,” he said.

PPP veteran Zafar Ali Shah calls for figurehead president

ISLAMABAD, April 17: As the country awaits a parliamentary constitutional reforms committee, a veteran lawmaker of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party pleaded in the National Assembly on Friday for having only a titular president who should also not head a political party.

Presidential powers are a key issue that must be resolved through constitutional amendments to be proposed by an all-parties committee of parliament, and the call by Syed Zafar Ali Shah came as the first public expression of the kind that appeared a taboo in recent months after President Asif Ali Zardari was elected to the office with all the powers assumed by his military predecessor General Pervez Musharraf while also leading the ruling party as its co-chairman.

“The prime minister should be prime minister (with powers) and the president be a titular head of state as is in India,” the PPP member from Sindh said while speaking in a debate on President Zardari’s March 28 address to a joint sitting of the National Assembly and Senate.

He said although there was no express ban in the Constitution, the spirit of the Constitution’s article 41, which says the president “shall be the head of state and shall represent the unity of the republic”, was that a president should not head a party.

National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza is yet to name the all-parties committee she was authorised by the house on April 10 to form to propose amendments to the Constitution and other laws to implement the famous Charter of Democracy signed in 2006 by assassinated PPP leader Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Nawaz Sharif and later supported by most political parties in parliament.

The charter calls for a return to a titular presidency by clipping its arbitrarily assumed powers to dissolve the National Assembly and appoint armed forces’ chiefs, provincial governors and the chief election commissioner and give them back to the prime minister as was the position in the Constitution before General Musharraf seized power in an Oct 12, 1999, coup.

Friday’s poorly attended National Assembly sitting saw some members expressing their reservations about the early outcome of the enforcement of a controversial Sharia regulation in Malakand division, although all parties, except the boycotting Muttahida Quami Movement had, voted for an April 13 resolution that asked the president to approve the order to implement a peace deal with the militants of Swat.

Former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, speaking on a point of order, said that even after the peace deal, Swat militants seemed to be involved in a suicide bomb attack in his constituency in Charsadda on Wednesday that killed 16 people because an injured alleged bomber had been traced to Swat district’s Charbagh area.

He asked the government to seek an explanation from Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi chief Sufi Mohammad who made the deal with the government on behalf of the militants.“On the one hand there is peace agreement and on the other there this process (of violence) begun again,” he said about the deal, which has been supported by most political parties but is seen by many in the civil society as an acquiescence to the power of the gun that would embolden the militants.

Before that, PPP’s Zafar Ali Shah opposed the peace deal’s provision for a gradual withdrawal of troops from Swat and said that even if peace was restored there, “we expect the army to play its role”.

ANP member Syed Haider Ali Shah, whose party leads the NWFP coalition government that made the peace deal with the militants, regretted MQM’s opposition to the move which, he said, was necessary to restore peace in the province that had been “in a state of war” for 30 years after it became the base for a Western-backed guerrilla war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

Independent member from Balochistan Mohammad Usman was most critical of the government’s handling of the situation in his troubled province, particularly vis-à-vis the issue of “missing persons” allegedly picked up by intelligence agencies and the recent murder of three Baloch nationalist politicians after they were abducted from the office of a lawyer in Turbat.

“Don’t push the Baloch like Bengalis,” he warned the government and called for halting what he called continuing military operation in Balochistan, registering a first information report for the murder of three Baloch leaders, starting dialogue with “the real political forces” of the province and recognising the Baloch people’s right over their natural resources.

PPP chief-whip and Labour and Manpower Minister Khurshid Ahmed Shah assured the house that the federal government would seek a report from the PPP-led Balochistan provincial government about people who went missing during years of the previous military-led Musharraf government.

The house was later adjourned until 4pm on Monday.

Video shows killing of man and woman

KOHAT, April 17: A video footage sent by some unidentified people to Dawn on Friday shows Taliban firing squad killing a man and a woman after accusing them of having committed adultery.

The two, who appeared to be in their 40s, were gunned down in the presence of their relatives.

According to sources the incident took place in Hangu district a few days ago. In the video, the woman is heard appealing to the Taliban for mercy. “Have mercy on me, please have mercy, the charges against me are false and no man has ever touched me.”

Taliban first pump bullets into woman’s chest and then fire a burst from Kalashnikovs at her and the man. As the woman appeared to be breathing, some Taliban are heard shouting, “she is alive, kill her”. —Abdul Sami Paracha

PM wants Balochistan issue to be resolved politically

ISLAMABAD, April 17: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani supported on Friday a demand for urgent steps to resolve the Balochistan issue politically.

“A situation has been created in the province to destabilise Pakistan in what appears to be a conspiracy to seize and destroy the nation’s assets,” he said while participating in a debate triggered by a number of motions moved by all parliamentary groups on the issue, including an adjournment motion seeking on the recent killing of three Baloch nationalist leaders.

The chair clubbed together all the motions containing various demands and suggestions for resolving the issue.

Acting Chairman Jan Mohammad Jamali said the matter was very important and needed extensive deliberations.

Some lawmakers said they saw an international conspiracy behind the present law and order situation in Balochistan and called for “complete autonomy” for the province.

They rejected a committee headed by the Balochistan IG to investigate the murder of the Baloch politicians and demanded a commission under a Supreme Court judge to look into the circumstances leading to the crime and fix responsibility.

The prime minister said that discussion in parliament would help guide the government. He said he would soon call a meeting of the defence committee to discuss ways of improving the situation in the province. Guidance would also be sought from the committee on national security, he added.

Dr Abdul Malik of the Balochistan National Party said the situation had turned so serious that Baloch youths were openly talking of “secession from Pakistan

He criticised Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik for blaming India for the security situation and asked what the 700,000 army troops were doing to protect Pakistans territory.

Shahid Bugti of the Jamhuri Watan Party condemned the killing of the three Baloch politicians when the people of Balochistan had not yet recovered from the grief of the assassination of Nawab Akbar Bugti and Balaach Marri. He said that Gen (retd) Musharraf who was responsible for the catastrophe in the province was being protected and provided protocol.

He said the Baloch youths were raising “slogans of separation” and warned that the country would ‘disintegrate’ if the issue was not resolved at the earliest. He added parliament was the only forum to debate all important national issues and suggest solutions.

US nuclear experts expelled from N.Korea

BEIJING: Four US experts monitoring the shutdown of a North Korean nuclear plant were expelled Friday from the isolated nation, Chinese media reported, days after they were told to leave.

The four departed Pyongyang’s Sunan airport for Beijing “under the DPRK’s (North Korea’s) expulsion order,” Xinhua news agency said.

North Korea on Tuesday pulled out of nuclear disarmament talks and ordered US and UN nuclear inspectors out of the country after the United Nations Security Council condemned Pyongyang for an April 5 rocket launch.

The UN nuclear inspectors left North Korea on Thursday.

The US Embassy in Beijing said it was unaware of the departure of the American nuclear experts and declined immediate comment.

The hardline communist state also announced plans to restart production of weapons-grade plutonium at its Yongbyon plant that had been shut down under an agreement reached at the disarmament talks.

The Yongbyon complex produced enough plutonium for a 2006 nuclear test and for several other bombs until it was closed in 2007 under a six-nation deal brokered with China, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

North Korea has previously threatened to quit the six-party talks, which began in 2003 and several times came close to collapse.

But its Tuesday statement announced it would “never” take part in such discussions again and was no longer bound by any six-party agreements.

Pyongyang appears to be pushing instead for bilateral talks with the United States, analysts say.

“We hope that the United States and North Korea will improve their relationship and develop it,” Japan’s Nikkei economic daily quoted Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi as saying in an interview in Beijing on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the United States said that a committee under the UN Security Council was meeting on expanding sanctions against North Korea that were put in place after Pyongyang’s first-ever atomic bomb test in 2006.

Pakistan secures $5bn in fresh aid: FoDP to set up secretariat in Islamabad

TOKYO, April 17: The Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP), led by the United States and Japan, pledged more than $5 billion on Friday to stabilise Pakistan’s troubled economy and fight the spread of terrorism in the country and neighbouring Afghanistan.

The US and Japan started off the one-day conference by pledging $1 billion each. Saudi Arabia added $700 million and the EU $640 million.

The total pledged was $5.28 billion, according to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

“There is a desire to help Pakistan,” President Asif Ali Zardari said, but added that the international community was still trying to grasp the implications of the problems his country faced.

“Despite the fact that I lost the mother of my children, I have taken up this challenge … to lead Pakistan out of these difficult times,” Mr Zardari said.

“It is a terrain where no forces in the world or no armies of the world have never won before,” he said. “War as it is is not a ‘win proposition’.”

“I still fear that the understanding of the danger that Pakistan faces still does not register fully in the minds of the world,” he said. “If we lose, you lose. If we lose, the world loses.”

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said he was impressed by the president’s resolve.

“I am convinced that the strong commitment by Pakistan itself will strengthen the resolve of the international community to support the civilian government,” Mr Aso told the gathering.

“We cannot stabilise Afghanistan without stabilising Pakistan and the opposite is also true,” he added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said: “We feel and we believe that Pakistan is serious in combating terrorism.”

Speculation has simmered that Mr Mottaki and US special envoy Richard Holbrooke would have a chance to chat at Friday’s gathering, but Mr Holbrooke was coy when asked if they had spoken. “We ran into each other,” he told reporters.

The donors said their contributions would be focussed on improving the economic climate in Pakistan through infrastructure and other projects, and stressed that stability in Pakistan was key to averting the growth of terrorism throughout the region.

The total fell short of Mr Zardari’s hope of as much as $6 billion in pledges. The conference’s Japanese hosts had said they expected a figure closer to $4 billion.

“We have demonstrated our clear determination to face the issues,” said Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone.

Both Japan and the US will make their contributions over the next two years, and neither represented a dramatic change in their current pattern of donations. Saudi Arabia’s pledge would also be disbursed over the next two years, and the EU’s over the next four years.

The US said in a statement it would contribute $1 billion as a “down payment” on aid it has already announced.

Mr Qureshi called the conference a success.

“I am more than satisfied with the successful conclusion of today’s conference,” he said. “In fact, I am delighted.”

Though focussed on Pakistan, the conference also discussed related issues in neighbouring Afghanistan.

“Without stability in Pakistan, there is no stability in Afghanistan,” Mr Aso said in a speech opening the conference.

“Stability in border areas is a key and I want to stress that the international community supports comprehensive strategies by the two nations.”

The conference, supported by the World Bank, was attended by 31 countries and 18 international organisations.

The US contribution will go towards Washington’s previously announced plans to give Pakistan $1.5 billion in aid each year for the next five years.

Separately, a $7.6 billion bailout has been granted by the International Monetary Fund to avert the country’s most recent balance-of-payments crisis.

As part of the IMF deal, Pakistan has been asked to reduce its fiscal deficit and to tighten its monetary policy.

ANCHOR OF STABILITY

A statement issued after the Friends’ meeting acknowledged the important role and sacrifices of Pakistan in confronting the menace of terrorism and extremism, as well as its strong commitment to become an anchor of stability and peace in the region as a whole.

President Zardari expressed his gratitude on behalf of the people of Pakistan to the FoDP for lending their support to Pakistan enabling it to realise the vision of a democratic, progressive, welfare state, committed to the consolidation of democratic institutions, the rule of law, good governance, achieving socioeconomic advancement, economic reform, and overcoming the challenges posed by terrorism and extremism.

President Zardari reiterated the commitment of the government and people of Pakistan to defeat terrorism and militancy.

He outlined the steps Pakistan would take to stem the spread of extremism and to address the political, economic and security challenges confronting the country.

He stressed that his government and the international community would remain firm partners in confronting and eliminating terrorism, militancy and extremism.The president also expressed the commitment to achieve economic reforms for further stability of the country.

The meeting recognised with appreciation the resolve of the government and the people of Pakistan to promote peace, security, stability and prosperity within the region and to work with the international community constructively to promote these goals at the global plane.

In this context, the meeting recognised the need for Pakistan’s strategy for public diplomacy to attract further support for and solidarity with the people and the government.

The meeting expressed its full support to the efforts of the government of Pakistan in ensuring its security and upholding the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Pakistan.

The members of the FoDP decided to deepen and broaden their engagement with and provide tangible support to Pakistan with a view to establishing a robust partnership for peace and development.

The meeting expressed support for Pakistan’s efforts to further advance economic reforms by undertaking policy reform, privatisation as well as increasing private sector’s growth, accountability and transparency.

The meeting decided to establish effective follow-up mechanisms for international cooperation and coordination including working groups, with interested countries and institutions, in the identified areas of development, security, energy and institution capacity building besides trade and finance.

The working groups will carry forward the process of analysis, formulation, evaluation and implementation of proposals in the above areas. The existing donor coordination mechanisms will be strengthened.

It was decided that the FoDP process would be carried forward with a view to exploring all avenues to support Pakistan in realising shared development priorities and addressing security challenges with focus on less developed areas.

In particular, the Friends will support the efforts of the government of Pakistan to tap the potential of public-private partnerships and that of civil society actors. To facilitate the process of the FoDP and its follow up, the meeting welcomed the decision of the government of Pakistan to set up the FoDP secretariat in Islamabad.

The meeting welcomed Turkey’s proposal to host the next ministerial meeting in Istanbul.The meeting also affirmed the solidarity of the international community to the Pakistani nation for realising the vision of a democratic welfare state committed to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.—Agencies

Rajnath Singh, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad file nominations

BIHAR: BJP president Rajnath Singh, SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad filed their nominations on Friday.

Rajnath Singh filed nomination from Ghaziabad Lok Sabha constituency, while Mulayam filed his papers from Mainpuri; both in Uttar Pradesh.

Lalu Prasad filed his nomination from Patliputra parliamentary seat in Bihar.

The RJD chief is also contesting from Saran constituency in the state.

Four robbers killed in Karachi encounter: police

KARACHI: Four robbers have been killed in a pre-Dawn encounter at Shara-e-Faisal in Karachi, police said on Saturday.

The DIG Police confirmed that the encounter took place at Shara-e-Faisal in the wee hours of Saturday.

In the exchange of fire that ensued, four dacoits were killed, and anther arrested.

Indian schoolgirl left in the sun to die

NEW DELHI, April 17: An 11-year-old Indian schoolgirl died after a teacher allegedly made her stand in the baking sun as punishment for not doing her homework, reports said on Friday.

Shanno Khan started bleeding from the nose and fainted after hours in the searing New Delhi heat on Wednesday, and slipped into a coma after being taken to hospital. She died on Friday, the NDTV news channel reported.

Reports say the teacher and the school principal have been suspended, with police waiting for the autopsy on the girl’ body before filing a possible criminal case.

India’ Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury said the incident was a “terrible tragedy”.

Corporal punishment is banned in India, but children are often physically abused by school authorities and teachers.—AFP

Mayhem in Hyderabad prison continues, 15 cops held hostage

HYDERABAD: Fifteen policemen have been held hostage by the inmates at the Hyderabad Central Jail in protest against registration of fake cases and police operation against them.

According to DIG Prisons Alauddin Abbasi said 15 policemen still held hostage by prisoners. Cases would be register against them and their demands will not be accepted.

Meanwhile, jail management said facilities provided to inmates have been discontinued due to chaos whereas Edhi sources said jail management has requested them to provide food for prisoner women and children.

More ‘accountability’?

LIKE the law and constitution and all noble concepts reduced by our politicians and generals to a farce, accountability, too, has been nothing more than a convenient shibboleth.

While rulers Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto relied on ‘screening’ and wholesale dismissals to get rid of officers presumed corrupt or on the wrong side of the regime, it was Ziaul Haq who used accountability unabashedly as an instrument of political persecution. In the post-Zia period, both the PPP and PML-N harassed, arrested and tried their rivals for reasons which were more often than not political and parochial.

A large number of these politicians and public servants were justifiably perceived as guilty of malfeasance, but they were incarcerated — sometimes without trial — not for meeting the ends of justice but because they were on the wrong side politically. When political vendetta was the motive, the accountability process had to be selective. During the Musharraf era, some politicians known to be corrupt were spared accountability and given key posts in the federal cabinet because they agreed to collaborate with the military regime. Then a new concept found its way into our accountability jargon — plea bargaining, which, in effect, meant a corrupt politician or public servant could keep part of the loot if he accepted guilt and surrendered the rest.

On Wednesday, the government tabled in the National Assembly a bill designed to scrap the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 and establish an Accountability Commission to mete out justice to corrupt public office-holders in a ‘just, transparent and non-oppressive manner.’ The bill will apply to former presidents, prime ministers and parliamentarians accused of corruption and excludes public servants. It doesn’t matter what the new name of the accountability institution will be; what does is that the process of justice should conform to the aims mentioned. The laws already on the statute books are comprehensive enough for this purpose provided the government of the day follows due process, and the laws are applied to all citizens in a manner that does not smack of dishonesty and excludes pardon or reprieve under foreign pressure — or for reasons of political expediency manifested in the National Reconciliation Ordinance. One is surprised, however, that the proposed law disqualifies a convict from becoming an MP only for five years. This is astonishing. Someone whose guilt has been truly established has no business to sit again among those who make laws for the nation’s good.

Taliban influence in bureaucracy

THE growing threat of violent extremism in different parts of Pakistan including Fata and Malakand Division is a matter of serious concern.

The harrowing factor is that the writ of the Taliban is solidifying both in the north and the south not only in the Pashtun belt but also in the heartland of Pakistan.

That a high-level provincial official posted in Swat should write a letter to the NWFP home department implying the complicity of the commissioner of Malakand Division in the ever-expanding influence of the Taliban in the region is an illustration of what is happening and how.

An alliance of extremist forces in Kashmir, Punjab, Fata and the NWFP and their strategy for Pakistan’s disintegration in the near future have virtually paralysed the administrations in the different settled districts of the NWFP — not to mention the threats made by extremists to invade Islamabad very soon. After the February peace deal between the NWFP government and the banned Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM), the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) chapter of Swat started a three-pronged assault on the state.

Firstly, the Swat chapter of the TTP started recruitment and the construction of bunkers on a large scale in different parts of Swat while the military and security establishment and the government maintained control in different ways. The security establishment and the Pakistani government seem to be oblivious of the fact that the Taliban movement is far more agile than the security establishment’s response to their onslaught from different directions.

Secondly, the Swat chapter of the TTP, in line with the Taliban alliances in Fata and the rest of Pakistan, were readjusting and relocating therein and have started expanding their assaults from the north to the south of the NWFP. The present onslaught by the Taliban on Buner and Dir is part of this strategy.

Thirdly, the Taliban have started consolidating their positions vis-à-vis the security establishment by controlling strategic passes and side valleys of Swat, Buner, Shangla and Dir. In this scenario, reports that a part of the civil bureaucracy in the NWFP, Fata and elsewhere in Pakistan facilitates the process of Talibanisation is likely to be a worrisome factor for elements within and outside the country.

The present commissioner of Malakand Division is said to have been posted in lower Dir in the early 1990s when the TNSM was in the process of becoming a formidable extremist organisation with a jihadi ideology. The commissioner was said to have been a frequent visitor of Maulana Sufi Mohammad’s madressah and allegedly worked behind the scenes with the initial support of the local khans for the TNSM in 1994 when it brought the whole administration of Malakand Division to a standstill.

Many who saw the 1994 uprising of Malakand Division bear testimony to the fact that the present commissioner of the latter provided all-out help to the insurgents coming from Dir to Swat.

In the early era of Fazlullah’s rise in Swat, again the present commissioner of Malakand Division was posted as the district coordination officer. He was the one, according to local residents, who facilitated the establishment of Fazlullah’s FM radio. He was the one who convinced the local jirga of Mamdherai and Mingora to allow the FM radio to function. It was reported in 2006-07 in the local press that when the Taliban in Swat started destroying CD shops and barber shops and the owners would go to the DCO office for complaints, the DCO would tell them to close the shops because, according to him, running the business was un-Islamic. The present commissioner was also seen by the locals visiting Mamdherai markaz (centre) for Friday prayers frequently.

On April 5, 2009 a battalion of the Taliban militia with heavy weaponry crossed over the hills from Swat to Buner to avowedly supervise the implementation of the Nizam-i-Adl. The local residents of Buner had been resisting the inflow of the Taliban for a long time. The local elders intervened and tried to convince the Taliban to return but the latter opened fire at them, leaving several injured. Later the Taliban captured three policemen and two civilians, and killed them.

The local residents, the people of lower Buner and Sultanwas, gathered to move upward to face the Taliban while the people of upper Buner provided reinforcements. Fighting began and in the ensuing gun-battle some 17 members of the Taliban are said to have been killed. The questions on the minds of the local people were: why would the Taliban come with heavy weapons if they did not want to control Buner? And why were the Taliban allowed by the commissioner to move from Swat to Buner with heavy weapons?

On April 6, a delegation of the TNSM along with the commissioner Malakand Division went to Buner to negotiate with the local elders. They tried to convince the local elders to allow the Taliban to enter the valley. While the delegation engaged the local administration and the elders of Buner, the Taliban started getting reinforcements. In the context of the Taliban expansion to Buner, it is interesting to note the ideological role played by the relatively less known Jamaati Ashaatutoheed WaSunna, the creation of Maulana Tahir Panjpiri, the father of the infamous Major Amir, a well-known IB and ISI operative in the past and allegedly behind the notorious Operation Midnight Jackal. Major Amir, Syed Mohammad Javed (the present commissioner Malakand Division) and Maulana Sufi Mohammad are said to have been quite close since a long time.

According to eyewitnesses, during the recent stand-off between the Taliban and the people of Buner, the commissioner of Malakand Division made efforts to convince the people to allow the Taliban to enter Buner. The commissioner is said to have become annoyed with the superintendent of police in Buner for informing the people about the impending onslaught by the Taliban on the former.

The present commissioner of Malakand Division belongs to a religious family in Shergarh, Malakand Agency. The provincial government of the NWFP deemed it a better solution to the problem to ask for his services during the peace deal with the militants of Swat recently. This seems to be a matter of concern for all those who want to resist the Taliban and preserve a modern civilisation as opposed to adopting a mediaeval way of life.

The fact is that parts of the civilian administration in Fata, the NWFP and the rest of Pakistan is infested with the jihadi ideology and connected to the sympathisers of the Taliban in one way or the other.

Taliban start recruiting youths in Buner

BUNER, April 12: The Taliban from Swat, who have taken a number of areas in Buner, are converting mosques in Buner into recruitment centres to urge youths to join their ranks.

Almost all mosques in Sultanwas, Pacha, Bhai Kaly, Malkpur, Kalakheelam, Jure, Bagra, Manyarai and Gokand are being used by them to recruit local people to their cause of enforcing Sharia in the Malakand division and eventually in the rest of the country.

On Sunday, militants took villages in Chamla tehsil under their ‘protection’ and faced no resistance from law-enforcement agencies.

“We are in touch with their (Taliban) leaders in Swat. The situation will return to normal in a few days,” Buner DCO Jawed Ahmad said, adding that local people had entered into an agreement with the Taliban in Swat through a trible elders’ council.

He said: “We are pursuing a policy of restraint. Even a minor mistake can derail the government’s peace initiative. These Taliban are peaceful. Till now they have not harmed anyone in the district.”

He denied that the Swat Taliban were recruiting youths in Buner.

But a local police official told this correspondent that the Taliban were trying and had already won over quite a number of them.

“I fear that they will have a sizeable force in a few days and will announce formation of their organisation in Buner,” he added.

Maulana Khalil, a leader of the Swat Taliban, addressed a congregation in a mosque in Malakpur village where he was welcomed by Maulana Minhajuddin and Maulana Tajur Rehman of Ishaat Al Sunnah wal-Tauheed and a large number of locals here.

He urged the local youth to come forward and shoulder the responsibility for enforcing Shariah in their areas.

Local people, meanwhile, are trying to adjust their lifestyles in accordance with the Taliban code.

A large number of them met the Taliban at Pir Baba’s shrine in Sultanwas, which is being used by the militants as the base of their operation in Buner.

Apart from the shrine of Pir Baba, Taliban have set up bases in Pacha Bazaar, Sultanwas, Bagra, Manyarai and Gokand.

Girl assaulted by cousin over rejecting marriage proposal

LAHORE: A young man along with his three accomplices tried to chop off the hands of his parental cousin after she resisted the sexual assault.

The girl was shifted to the Meo Hospital with wounds where doctors had to cut her left leg to save her life.

Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shabaz Sharif took notice of the incident and ordered the police to submit an immediate report in this connection.

Fauzia, 20, told that she was alone at home when her cousin Nadeem Abbas and his three friends broke into the house, and tried to assault her. “They attempted to cut my hands, legs and shoulders with sharp axe on showing resistance,” she said.

Fauzia’s sister Khalida told that the police had registered an FIR against the accused.

SP Investigation Shoaib Khurram said the accused would be arrested soon.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif asked CCPO Lahore Pervaiz Rathore to submit an immediate report into the incident.

Girl assaulted by cousin over rejecting marriage proposal

LAHORE: A young man along with his three accomplices tried to chop off the hands of his parental cousin after she resisted the sexual assault.

The girl was shifted to the Meo Hospital with wounds where doctors had to cut her left leg to save her life.

Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shabaz Sharif took notice of the incident and ordered the police to submit an immediate report in this connection.

Fauzia, 20, told that she was alone at home when her cousin Nadeem Abbas and his three friends broke into the house, and tried to assault her. “They attempted to cut my hands, legs and shoulders with sharp axe on showing resistance,” she said.

Fauzia’s sister Khalida told that the police had registered an FIR against the accused.

SP Investigation Shoaib Khurram said the accused would be arrested soon.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif asked CCPO Lahore Pervaiz Rathore to submit an immediate report into the incident.

Attack on Nato depot leaves one dead, 10 trucks gutted

PESHAWAR, April 12: A worker was killed and two others were injured in a pre-dawn attack on terminals for trucks transporting supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan.

A police official said that 10 trucks were set on fire during the attack on two terminals on the Ring Road.

The attackers also broke into a nearby cement warehouse and destroyed its office and a loaded truck.

According to police, the armed men who attacked the depots hurled petrol bombs on parked trucks. They escaped after a brief encounter with police.

Three workers suffered bullet injuries and on of them, Arifullah of Charsadda, died in hospital. The injured have been identified as Khadim and Usman.

Frequent attacks on terminals have forced contractors to shift their business from Peshawar to Punjab.

PML-N has right to form Punjab govt: Ghaus

KARACHI: President Pakistan Muslim League-N Sindh, Syed Ghaus Ali Shah Sunday said it is the right of his party to form government in Punjab and the protest by people of the four provinces against the imposition of Governor rule is self speaking proof of the same.

Addressing a public meeting here in Baldia Town, Shah said PML-N condemns the killing of 3 Baloch nationalist leaders and calls for awarding severe punishment to the perpetrators of the crime.

He said PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif came out for the cause of restoration of judiciary without caring for his life and took sigh of relief only after taking the campaign to its logical conclusion.

“PML-N is pursuing the policy of live and let live,” Ghaus Ali Shah asserted.

Thai govt declares state of emergency

BANGKOK, April 12: Thailand’s ousted prime minister called for a revolution on Sunday after rioting erupted in the capital, with protesters commandeering public buses and swarming triumphantly over military vehicles in unchecked defiance after the government declared a state of emergency.

Bands of red-shirted anti-government protesters roamed areas of Bangkok, with some furiously smashing cars carrying Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his aides and others beating up motorists who hurled insults at them.

At least 20 intersections were occupied by the protesters, who used buses to barricade several major roads.

Police Gen. Vichai Sangparpai said up to 30,000 demonstrators were scattered around the city. Police vans at some intersections were abandoned and looted.

Ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, regarded by most of the protesters as their leader, called for a revolution and said he might return from exile to lead it.

“Now that they have tanks on the streets, it is time for the people to come out in revolution. And when it is necessary, I will come back to the country,” he said in a telephoned message to followers who surrounded the prime’s minister office.Political tensions have simmered since Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006 for alleged corruption and abuse of power. He remains popular for his populist policies in the impoverished countryside. His opponents, many in urban areas, took to the streets last year to help bring down two pro-Thaksin governments, seizing Bangkok’s two airports in November for about a week.

The emergency decree bans gatherings of more than five people, forbids news reports considered threatening to public order and allows the government to call up military troops to quell unrest.

Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said soldiers and police were being moved to more than 50 key points in the city, including bus and railway stations.

He said the military presence was not a sign of an imminent coup, a common feature of Thai political history.—AP

Retaliation over violation of Indo-Pak water treaties must: Munawar

Retaliation over violation of Indo-Pak water treaties must: Munawar LAHORE: The Ameer Jamat-e-Islami (JI) Syed Munawar Hasan has urged government to retaliate befittingly the violation of Indo-Pakistan water treaties from India and warned officials against unbearable demerits if this issue gets neglected.

He was talking to a delegation hailing from Muttahida Kissan Mahaz Pakistan (MKMP) here in Mansora.

Munawar said India has violated the Indus Basin Treaty by stopping water flowing towards River Ravi, Satlag and Biaas. Later, India deprived Pakistan of water for River Chenab and Jehlum and now it is ready to take control of Indus River water.

These actions will bear dire consequences, he warned.

Fate of Nizam-i-Adl to be decided in National Assembly

ISLAMABAD: The government on Sunday announced that it will table the controversial Nizam-i-Adl Regulation-2009, which is for the enforcement of so called Islamic law in Swat, in the National Assembly for debate to determine whether it should be approved by President Asif Ali Zardari or not.

‘It will be presented before the National Assembly on Monday and formal debate will be started on it on the same day,’ Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan said.

The enforcement of Shariah has not only been demanded by religious clerics on Swat but also by the government of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) who signed a peace deal with Tehrik Nifaze Shariat-i-Muhammadi (TNSM) headed by Maulana Sufi Muhammad.

Under the deal the TNSM had assured the provincial government that it will convince local Taliban to stop terrorism in the country while the frontier government had assured the organisation of abolishing prevailing laws in the entire Malakand Division including Swat and replacing them with Shariah law.

The federal government has already linked enforcement of Shariah law in Swat with complete peace in the country and an end to the prevailing spate of suicide bombings that has claimed hundreds of innocent lives in Pakistan.

The government accuses the TNSM of failing to convince Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) led by warlord Baitullah Mehsud to stop terrorist attacks.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has made it clear, in his recent statement that, peace must be established in the valley before putting a stamp on the peace accord.

‘The peace pact has been signed between the NWFP government and TNSM. Therefore, President Asif Ali Zardari will sign the Swat peace accord after prevalence of complete peace and serenity in Swat region,’ he has said.

Kaira said the federal government had accepted the demands of the TNSM chief Sufi Muhammad to end military operations in the region, and now the Taliban must also lay down arms according to the deal.

Meanwhile, Awami National Party (ANP), the ruling political party in the frontier province, has threatened the federal government that it would reconsider its support to the PPP in the centre.

Meanwhile, sources in the government said the ANP has categorically warned the PPP led government that it will pull out from the ruling coalition in the centre if Nizam-i-Adl Regulation-2009 is not enforced.

‘Our party will reconsider our support to the PPP, if Shariah law is not enforced,’ ANP leader and NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain to a private TV channel.

The proposed Shariah law in Swat became more controversial when a video tape regarding the flogging of a teenage-girl was shown in the media as it reflected inhuman actions of alleged Taliban in Swat.

However, the NWFP government termed the video tape a fake one to sabotage peace deal. ‘If the video of a teenage girl-flogging in Swat proved wrong, we definitely would take action against the person who tried to derail the agreement and telecast. We know it (video) was a drama aim to sabotage the agreement for peace in the Swat,’ Hussain said.

However, PPP secretary information Fauzia Wahab termed the referring of Nizam-i-Adl issue to the parliament a ‘vision of President Zardari to ensure the supremacy of the parliament’

Police arrests 625 suspects from Islamabad, Rawalpindi

RAWALPINDI: Police in Rawalpindi and Islamabad have arrested 625 suspects during a four-day-long search operation.

Those found innocent will be released after their interrogation, police told DawnNews on Monday.

At least 150 people were rounded up from Rawalpindi on Monday only. These include Afghan nationals also.

The suspects were taken into custody for investigations into the Manawan attack and possible links with militancy in Swat.

A survey of slums in Islamabad was also conducted to check any suspicious activity and individuals. A similar survey will be conducted in the capital’s residential apartments.

Arrested Pakistani nationals to be deported: UK media

KARACHI: Pakistani nationals arrested amid terror raids across the UK will be deported instead of being charged, media reports in the UK said on Monday.

Investigators involved in Operation Pathway, codename for the inquiry, have been unable to press charges against the 12 men suspected of plotting terror attacks in the UK, according to a report in The Times.

One of the 12 men detained, an 18-year-old student, was being held in terrorist detention but has now been freed, the report says.

Meanwhile, Nasrullah Khattak, the father of one of the detainees told the Guardian in an interview that his son was being made a victim of anti-Muslim discrimination from the UK agencies.

‘This is all about his prayers and his beard. I am his father and I know him. He is not involved in any mysterious plot’ he said about his son who was studying computer science in the UK.

Nasrullah said he first learnt of the raids in local papers and pointed out several blatant errors in the reports, which said the student hailed from Karak district in Pakistan’s tribal areas. ‘We are from an old district, with educated people. Not the tribal belt,’ he said.

Speaking to DawnNews, Nasrullah asked the Pakistan and UK governments to independently probe the case.

Families of two other suspects held a press conference in Dera Ismail Khan to denounce the arrests.

According to another Guardian report, authorities in Pakistan arrested a Scottish aid worker, who converted to Islam and was working to promote education in Kashmir.

News of his detention filtered out at the weekend amid a public spat between the British and Pakistani governments after last week’s arrest of 11 Pakistani students in north-west England, the report says.

British authorities launched raids across north England after a top British anti-terror official was photographed carrying details of Operation Pathway openly at Downing Street.

We do not want to join the government: PML-N

ISLAMABAD: It is in the interest of democracy and the two-party system that we sit on the opposition benches at the centre, PML-N spokesman Siddiqul Farooq said on Monday.

The Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) will not work to destabilise the federal government and will act as constructive opposition, Farooq said.

‘We will cooperate with the government on all important issues but we do not want to join the government,’ he added.

‘However, the final decision on this will be taken by Nawaz Sharif.’

Earlier, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had formally invited the PML-N to rejoin the government as well as the federal cabinet, saying that the deposed judges had been reinstated as the PML-N desired.

However, PML-N’s top bosses are under pressure from the party who are urging its leadership to play the role of the opposition in the centre rather than joining the federal cabinet.

Talking to DawnNews, Special Advisor to Punjab chief Minister, Raja Ashfaq Sarwar, confirmed party bosses were under pressure from the workers not to join the PPP government in the centre.

He said Shahbaz Sharif had forwarded the prime minister’s invitation to Raiwind for response from Nawaz Sharif, who is urging President Zardari to doff the powers he exercises under the 17th amendment.

Meanwhile, sources in the N-League say it is unlikely for the party to share government benches with the PPP at a time when the PML-N is scoring high as constructive opposition.
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Private schools opened in twin cities

ISLAMABAD: Majority of private schools in twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have reopened on Monday, however, junior section of some private schools remained closed.

The junior section of some private schools still closed and administration of these schools said junior section would remain close till Wednesday.

All government schools in twin cities opened Monday as per routine. Many private educational institutions were shut down on Friday due to security concerns.

Eight suspected militants killed in Afghanistan

KABUL: US troops and airstrikes killed eight suspected militants in two provinces bordering Kabul, a US military statement said Monday.

Airstrikes and ‘indirect’ fire killed seven militants in Wardak province after they attacked an American patrol in the area Saturday, the statement said.

There were no American casualties in the clash, which happened in Sayed Abad district, it said.

Another suspected militant was killed in a Saturday clash in neighboring Logar province after insurgents attacked a joint US-Afghan patrol, the statement said.

Nearly 3,000 US troops moved into Wardak and Logar earlier this year, as part of the planned increase of American military presence across Afghanistan. The additional troops will try to reverse the Taliban gains and help extend security and development in remote areas of the country.

President Barack Obama has also pledged to send an additional 21,000 US troops to Afghanistan this year to battle the Taliban and al-Qaida.

There are currently roughly 65,000 international forces in Afghanistan, more than half from the US.

Foreign policy disputes with the US intensify

ISLAMABAD: Differences over India’s enhanced role in Afghanistan led to the drift in strategic relations between Pakistan and the United States that caught public eye after prickly Foreign Minister Qureshi pointed towards a trust deficit between the two allies and asked the senior partner for a fair treatment based on mutual trust and respect.

Background interviews revealed that strains in the relations were much more serious than met the eye and as the insiders put it the testing moment for the strategic cooperation has arrived and critical decisions by both the allies are due now.

‘The ties are in a very delicate stage and there are very few options left for both the allies – either to concede some ground to the other or to enter an all out confrontation,’ a diplomatic source opined adding things may worsen in days ahead because the Americans are known to be bad listeners and have an inclination for ‘bulldozing’ the matters.

The differences started after President Obama unveiled his strategy for the region, which among other things envisioned the setting up of a Contact Group on Pakistan and Afghanistan which involved India. Subsequently, it became clearer with the passage of time that the Obama administration was looking towards a greater role for India in Afghanistan.

Ambassador Holbrooke articulated the US thinking by calling India the ‘absolutely critical leader of the region.’ The new US policy was a major shocker for Islamabad that had yet to recover from the surprise U-turn by President Obama, who had during his election campaign promised a resolution of the Kashmir issue, but later went back on his promise.

Suspicions in Pakistan compounded with the introduction of the Peace Act of 2009 in the US House of Representatives, that attached stringent conditionalities to the proposed $1.5 billion annual assistance, which required Islamabad not to support any person or group involved in activities meant to hurt India and to allow US investigators access to people suspected of involvement in nuclear proliferation.

Pakistan believes that the conditionalities were out of sync with mutual desire for long term strategic relationship.

Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit termed the proposed conditionalities as unhelpful.

Alongside all this there was a stepped up vilification campaign against Pakistan’s premier intelligence outfit – Inter Services Intelligence accusing it of supporting Taliban. There was a perception in Islamabad that the US was subscribing to India’s position on the security situation in South Asia.

Fears that US was planning to expand drone attacks, already a sensitive issue in Pakistan, into Balochistan did not help the cause. Some sources say the US and Pakistan had reached a broad understanding in principle on ending the drone attacks in Pakistan’s territory, but Islamabad was taken aback after finding no mention of it in the revised policy.

The change in terminology being used for Pakistan and particularly the choice of the Af-Pak phrase, clubbing Pakistan and Afghanistan together, manifested the US thinking, which considered Pakistan as part of the problem.

Basit says there is no comparison between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the two needed to be looked at separately for a tenable solution.

These developments were completely unacceptable to the military establishment in Pakistan, which then convinced the government to stand up to it although President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani were the first ones to have welcomed the new Obama strategy.

Islamabad was of the view that the shift in the US foreign policy towards Pakistan was demoralizing and promoted distrust.

‘The American tilt towards India despite knowing Pakistan’s concerns about it and having evidence of Indian role in promoting instability in different parts of Pakistan was not in good taste,’ a source said.

The matter was taken up in the meetings with US Special Envoy Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and Chairman US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen during their visit to Islamabad last week, where they were categorically asked about what they had done for curbing the Indian destabilizing role in Pakistan.

Admiral Mullen and Ambassador Holbrooke were further told that the shift of strategic focus from the Eastern borders to the Western borders was not possible until tensions with India were resolved and the core issue of Kashmir was addressed.

Analysts say the surprise reaction in Islamabad is being processed in Washington by their strategic planners for whom it was a revelation that things had gone awry. Pakistan has expressed the intentions to take up the issues again at the trilateral Pakistan-Afghanistan-US meeting in Washington on May 6-7.

However, it is expected that there could be a high level diplomatic or military contact between the two countries even ahead of the Washington meeting, to resolve the differences.

The seven US congressional delegations visiting Pakistan over the next three weeks for discussions on aid legislation could also talk about the thorny issues straining Pak-US ties.

Analysts believe that Pakistan would first have to put its own house in order before entering serious negotiations with the US. ‘They need to furnish acceptable proofs of Indian involvement in Pakistan; develop a credible counter-insurgency strategy; and more importantly get all of their state institutions on the same page.’

Islamabad twin-city lawyers observe strike on Balochistan situation

ISLAMABAD: The lawyers’ community in the twin-city here, like all across the country, observed strike against the political murders in Balochistan and boycotted the courts.

Supreme Court Bar president, Ali Ahmad Kurd had given the call for strike today, which the lawyers responding stayed away from twin-city’s district courts and Rawalpindi High Court Bench, while the lawyers in Islamabad High Court also observed partial strike today. Hearings in the courts could not be held as the lawyers abstained.

No Spinzone: Wellness in the age of Taliban

Before the Taliban ban beauty of brain and body, it’s best to be in a state of preparedness. Should such a day dawn, heaven forbid, only the fittest will survive.

I never took my visits to the dentist seriously. Today I regret it. Last year my dentist pulled out two teeth because they had become infected. Being toothless was terrible. Each time I opened my mouth, people could see two gaping holes. That hurt my self-image. So last week I got an implant. I mean a dental one; not the one women go after for sex appeal. That’s old hat. In America it’s a multi-billion industry. ‘Barbie Dolls’ (or Brigitte Bardots for baby boomers) flout a figure not endowed by Mother Nature but the cosmetic surgeon.

Age catches up. Teeth fall. Hair thins. Body sags. Mind slows. Heart saddens. Friends die. Depression destroys. Wrinkles increase. Eyes glaze.

Thanks to modern makeovers, all these ‘old devils’ can be dealt with firmly. But you need money. So, begin saving for the rainy day if you want to maximise your wellness for as long as you can.

Why don’t you put dentures instead? I ask Dr Shahid Mahmood, hoping he’ll spare me the ordeal and cost of a dental implant. ‘Sure’ he says. ‘But the dentures are not a permanent solution. They are messy and move about as you masticate the morsel in the mouth…’

Okay, I get the picture and resign to the ‘surgery’ hoping I come out alive! The piped music and the lovely spring flowers from the window soothe my palpitating heart. I love his garden. The landscaping is lovely. I try not to panic. By my jaws are taut.

‘Just relax’ he says softly. Twenty minutes later, it’s over and done with. ‘Now you go and tell your friends that this procedure is painless (I’ll vouch for that…not even a drop of blood) and if they want to remain beautiful and healthy, they should go for implants.’

He tells me that he’s doing an implant a day. ‘Overseas Pakistanis are flying in to get the procedure done here because it’s many times more economical than abroad…They meet their family, take a vacation and return with brand new teeth!’

Well, if the Sharif brothers can get hair implants and Begums so-and-so (I daren’t name these dames because I myself may soon be joining their league) can get their faces and bodies fixed, why not get new teeth for those fallen? We in Pakistan are prone to superficial beautification; trust me, no harm in that, than taking care of our health. If you don’t have teeth, the food you eat will never get digested because it’s not been properly chewed. Well let me stop here and move on to matters brainy.

Can one become an author at age 80? ‘I’ve written my third book,’ Mian Ata Rabbani tells me. The next two hours fly. His joie de vivre is infectious. Company of such men is a tonic for melancholia. ‘I wake up early in the morning, offer my prayers, get dressed, eat breakfast, read the papers and then sit down to write’ he says.

His first book ‘I was the Quaid’s ADC’ was so much in demand that he had to get a 3rd edition printed in 2007. He’s dedicated it to two women whom he has lost – Khurshid, his mother and Kishwar, his wife. Commissioned in the British Indian Air Force in 1941, Rabbani was a fighter pilot. Why did you become a pilot? I ask. There’s a naughty twinkle in his eye as he relates the reasons – they have to do with circumstances that cross into the metaphysical. ‘I’ve lead a charmed life.’ His strong faith in the ‘Divine Design’ has guided his 25 years of service to Pakistan Air Force.

’My years in blue uniform’ was the Group Captain’s second book. It is rich in detail and description. Especially for those who have served in the air force. The first person narrative makes for a chatty and informative read. The writer in him keeps him pegged to his table for long hours. ‘I don’t socialise much,’ he says. Pakistanis his age, normally lead very quiet dull lives. They have nothing to do. In America, the latest fad to fight dementia and Alzheimer’s are the ‘brain gyms.’

To exercise the brain these ‘neurobics’ as in aerobics have computerised brain-fitness for an improved memory and attention skills. Linda Bucklin, a 63-year-old writer, swears by the brain gym in her neighbourhood. ‘She now works out three times a week and credits a computer ‘visual processing’ programme for helping her find her car keys faster and sharpen her tennis skills,’ reports The New York Times.

But Rabbani gets his ‘neurobics’ by writing. Recently his third book ‘The sun shall rise’ came to the bookstores. Judging by the title and the lovely uplifting bright orange cover displaying a map of Pakistan, the author has an important message for us all. ‘Pakistan has withstood such storms earlier and this will also blow over…the sun shall rise again, inshallah.’

Oh! By the way, did I tell you that Senator Raza Rabbani is his son? During our meeting not once is Raza mentioned. Father and son have their own careers cut out. The authorial persona of the senior Rabbani does not cross into the political space of his son. This makes for such a refreshing change in today’s ‘Who is Who’ culture where individuals with famous last names matter more than their own performance. Besides, our history is so poorly recorded that first person narratives of the Quaid and the PAF by Ata Rabbani are weighty.

But one needs more ammunition to fight the ugliness, death, decapitations, women lashings in public, corruption by our rulers, state apathy, grinding poverty and brutality in the name of religion. One needs to draw upon one’s store of spirituality, empathy and goodness. Give freely of your time, energy, money and love to causes that can make Ata Rabbani’s prophesy ‘The sun shall rise again’ come true.

As titans of civil society – no matter how old like Roedad Khan – be humanely forthcoming. Rejoice for you have now an independent judiciary. The battle for good over evil has begun. This alone should brighten your waking hours.

One last reminder – do take care of your dental hygiene, do remember to floss otherwise it’s implants for you, or worse still, dentures!

Source: Dawn News

No formula accepted to alter sit-in resolve: Minallah

ISLAMABAD: The spokesman to deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Ather Minalla said on Saturday lawyers are not in favour of any formula and vowed to stage sit-in on March 16 at all costs.

Talking to media outside CJ House here Minalla said we cannot trust those who failed to keep their promises in past.

Ruling out the news in regards with dialogues between lawyers and government, he termed them as ‘baseless’ and said such rumors are being spread in order to sabotage lawyers’ sit-in.

Responding to a question he said, the prime object of lawyers’ movement is to restore November 2, 2007 judiciary.

The violence perpetrated upon women in Zardari tenure has broken all past records.

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