‘Zardari was electedfor five years, whyshould he resign?’PAGE 18 PAGE 21

pakistantoday.com.pk Friday, 9 December, 2011 Muharram-ul-Haram 13, 1433rs15.00 Vol ii no 162 22 Pages lahore edition

‘No second chance’if euro summitfails, says Sarkozy

Virender Sehwagoutclasses Tendulkarwith double ton

PAGE 16

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday issued the detailed ver-

dict in the review case of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). The

31-page detailed verdict drafted by Justice Tassadaq Hussain Jilani said

the federal counsel was heard but he failed to give arguments to build

the case and the parliament did not validate the NRO. Dismissing the

government’s pleas to review the NRO verdict, the Supreme Court in

its detailed verdict ordered the government to immediately implement

its ruling in letter and spirit. The detailed verdict bears signatures of

all the 17 judges comprising the full court that heard the case.

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

THe army said on Thursday Pakistan did not become partof NATO’s enquiry into its deadly air strike in MohmandAgency last month because it did not expect any tangibleresults from the probe and doubted it would be trans-parent, as the Parliamentary Committee on National Se-

curity sought from the government details of the agreements andassurances, verbal or written, made with the US and NATO so asto formulate its recommendations for parliament vis-à-vis newterms of engagement on cooperation in the war on terror.Military sources told Pakistan Today no tangible results were ex-pected from the NATO probe into the strikes since nothing ofconsequence had emerged from earlier investigations into suchcross-border attacks by US and allied forces. They said Pakistanhad also decided to increase the number of border posts that co-ordinated activities with the US and allied forces in Afghanistan.“The number of border coordination posts jointly operated byPakistani, Afghan and NATO forces along the border withAfghanistan will be increased from four to five,” a source said.STRIKE PRE-PLANNED: Meanwhile, Director General MilitaryOperations Major General Ashfaq Nadeem said the NATO air strikewas pre-planned. Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on De-fence, which met with Senator Javed Ashraf Qazi in the chair onThursday, Gen Nadeem said after the attack on Salala checkpost itwas wrongly conveyed to the Pakistani side that the Volcano check-post had been attacked. “When the company commander rushed tothe checkpost, he saw that NATO helicopters had returned after de-stroying the two checkposts,” he said. The bunkers were specificallytargeted and destroyed, he added. Meanwhile, the ParliamentaryCommittee on National Security headed by Senator Raza Rabbani told

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

As rumours gripped the countryabout the political fate of Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari on the sec-ond consecutive day,presidential spokesman Farhat-ullah Babar said on Thursdaythat the president had beenmoved from the Intensive CareUnit (ICU) to his room, as theTelegraph reported that thepresident had suffered a minorheart attack.

“According to his personalphysician, President Zardariwas moved a short while agofrom the ICU to the normalhospital room, where he is rest-ing to recuperate,” said Babar.

A health bulletin issued bythe physician said: “The presi-dent is stable, comfortable and isresting. Initial tests and investi-gations have been within normalrange while further tests will becarried out.” Meanwhile, a

Reuters report said Zardari wasbeing administered antibiotics totreat a fever. Information Minis-ter Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan saidPresident Zardari would be backamong the people of the countrysoon. Asked whether the presi-dent would address the joint ses-sion of parliament, the ministersaid Zardari would do so after thefinalisation of recommendationsby the Parliamentary Committee

NATO raid pre-planned, notrust in probeg National security committee asks govt for

details of agreements made with US and NATO

Former Punjab IG Shaukat Javed has strongly rejectedcontents of a news report appearing in Pakistan Todayaccusing him of planning to manipulate the nextprovincial elections for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). In a statement, Mr Javed said that hehad held no meeting with either any PML-N leader orthe additional inspector general of the Special Branchin the last one year. He said further that no person hadever accused him of being involved in rigging the lastgeneral elections. “During my service, I earned a repu-tation of sound integrity and impartiality in politicalmatters,” Mr Javed said in his statement.

Shaukat Javed rejects reportSC upholds previous NRO verdict,orders implementation

Zardari ‘stable’,US optimistic

ContinueD on Page 04

ContinueD on Page 04

QUETTA: A man looks at burning NATO supply oil tankers at

a terminal following an attack by gunmen. AFP | Story on Page 24

DetaileD story | Page 04

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02Friday, 9 December, 2011

News

Today’s

LookQuick

lAHORe

Story on Page 05

NewS

Story on Page 10

wORlD ViewIn Pakistan, the US continues to make errors

Story on Page 15

Controversy hits Punjab Civil Secretariat ‘Change has started in FATA’

17 militants killed in Orakzai,

Kurram operationsPESHAWAR

STAFF REPORT

17 alleged militants were killed and their hideouts de-stroyed in retaliatory action by security forces at CentralKurram and Orakzai Agencies on Thursday.The militant attacks in both tribal agencies resulted in asoldiers’ death and injuries to three others. Officials in-formed that early on Thursday morning dozens of mili-tants attacked security forces check posts at Joogi area incentral Kurram Agency. Two security forces personnelwere injured. However, security forces launched retalia-tory action against militants through helicopters. Offi-cials claimed three militant hideouts were destroyed and10 militants were killed. On the other hand, officials saida soldier was killed in a militant’s attack in UpperOrakzai Agency. Security forces relatiated and killedseven militants. No independent verification of the casu-alties would be made due to lack of access in both tribalagencies. Meanwhile, Bannu police claimed the arrest of17 notorious criminals, including one hard-core militant,during a search operation on Thursday.

SC moved to clear president’s

name in memo petition LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

A civil miscellaneous application was filed in theSupreme Court’s Lahore Registry for an early hearingof the petition on the constitutional immunity to Presi-dent Asif Ali Zardari against criminal proceedings.The application was filed by Barrister Zafarullah.He contended that the president enjoyed complete im-munity from criminal proceedings under Article 248 ofthe constitution and it was unlawful to proceed againsthim in court of law. He requested the court to decidethe immunity matter pending since 2009 before takingup the the “memogate”pleas.

Veena admits to going‘topless’ but ‘not nude’

MONITORING DESK

Actress Veena Malik admittedon Thursday to having done a“topless” and “covered” photo-shoot for Indian men’s maga-zine FHM, but insisted she didnot “go nude”, Geo News re-ported. Veena is seeking $2million in damages from FHMIndia, alleging that they “mor-phed” the images to make herappear naked. The magazinedenies the claims. Veena said

she did not get paid for the photographs, which havecaused controversy in Pakistan. She said she had re-fused another offer from an agency for a nude photo-shoot. Regarding the photos in FHM India magazine,she said: “If you look at my shoot, I do admit that Ihave done a topless shoot. But it was not that topless -a proportion of the body was covered with my hands.”“I liked the idea of a bold shoot, but I did not do a nudeshoot – that’s why I am standing here today, because Ihave to prove it,” she added. “I won’t allow anybody toremove my bikini or my shalwar or my dupatta. If Iwant to do it, I will do it myself. And if I do it, I willown it,” she told BBC’s World Have Your Say pro-gramme. Asked about reports that her father has dis-owned her and has called for her to be punished, Veenasaid: “My father is angry. They are my family - I lovethem. Once I am done with this case... I will go back tomy family and I will convince them, and I still lovethem.” Malik also defended the images, saying: “If youlook at the industry in which I am working right now,there are various examples of such shoots – it’s notthat I am the first one who has done it. Why is sexual-ity such a big problem? Are we actually grown up? Arewe still living in the jungles?” she said.

Unification Bloc mayabandon Sharifs for PTI

LAHORE YASIR HABIB

IT seems that the belea-guered Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N)is about to suffer another

political blow as the UnificationBloc – the PML-Quaid’s break-away faction in Punjab whichwas loyal to the Sharifs, nowseems eager to join the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). AfterShah Mehmood Qureshi joinedthe PTI and other political giantsare expected to swap the Unifica-tion Bloc for Imran Khan’s party,the Sharifs have started to havesleepless nights.

Lobbyists within the bloc havebegun to flex their muscles to jointhe PTI to share the political wind-falls likely to fall in Khan’s lap inthe near future. They have startedorganizing marathon meetings toconvince bloc members to aban-don the Sharifs, “who never recip-rocate their selfless love for thePML-N” and think about joiningKhan’s army to secure their polit-ical careers. Most of the bloc

members, who had been dormantand had grievances with the Pun-jab government, have been inclose contact with one anothersince mid November and it seemsthat they are trying to hash out astrategy in the light of the coun-try’s changing political landscape.

“People as individuals and ingroups have also expressed theirfeelings to Unification Bloc headDr Tahir Ali Javed of quitting thePML-N and joining the PTI and afinal decision is taking shape fastand will be ready to be announcedsoon,” a senior bloc member toldPakistan Today. He said one ofthe major reasons behind themove was the frosty attitude ofboth the Sharif brothers.

“We stayed loyal to the Sharifsduring the governor’s rule andproved our unshaken belief inthem. But, in reply, Nawaz refusedto bless us with PML-N tickets inthe upcoming elections,” he said.

“It is a bitter reality that thePML-N does not think of the Uni-fication Bloc as a friend. Contraryto the promise, the reconciliationprocess could not be initiated be-

tween the members of the blocand the PML-N even at the districtlevel,” he said. “We also resignedfrom 11 posts of chairmen ofstanding committees and threeslots of political assistants in thePunjab Assembly for the cause ofthe PML-N. However, the Sharifskept us at an arm’s length,” an-other member of bloc said.

The Unification Bloc head ad-mitted that the bloc members hadconveyed to him that they weremulling joining the PTI. “Theyhave also asked me about what Ithink as they are seriously weigh-ing their options,” he added.

He also admitted that most ofthe bloc members had frayed tieswith the PML-N due to the Punjabgovernment’s “unfriendly treat-ment” meted out to them.

However, he said so far the sit-uation was under control as a ma-jority of the bloc’s members werestill loyal to the PML-N. “We be-lieve that changing a political partyonce and again may backfire,”Javed said. He said a decision re-garding joining the PTI would betaken when the time came.

‘Zardari was elected

for 5 years, why

should he resign?’LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Pakistan Mus-lim League-Quaid(PML-Q) Pres-identChaudhryShujaat Hus-sain on Thurs-day said theparliament

elected President Asif Ali Zardari forfive years and he will not quit his office.Talking to media after visiting ailingTableeghi Jamaat chief Abdul Wahabat Lahore’s Services Hospital, Shujaatsaid Zardari had gone abroad for med-ical treatment and will return homeafter his recovery. Ch Shujaat said op-ponents should wait till the end of histenure as president. He said the mem-ogate was a fraud orchestrated by a manwith vested interests. He also said noimportant PML-Q members wereswitching alliances and the likemindedgroup were looking to other paritiesafter being disappointed from PML-Q.Shujaat also said no parlays with PML-N was on the cards and if it was to becalled, the PML-Q would consult mediabefore deciding.

TO THE US EMBASSY: Protesters attempt to cross barbed wires to reach the US

Embassy during an anti-US and NATO rally at Parade Avenue in Islamabad. INP

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03Friday, 9 December, 2011

NewsCOMMeNTCornered in:

Articles on Page 12-13

Some navel-gazing is in order.

A baptism of fire?: Not an easy road ahead for Bilawal.

Agha Akbar says:He ain’t going nowhere: The president with nine lives.

Ali Aftab Saeed says:We kiss and we make up!: The US and Pakistan’s sordid affair.

Qudssia Akhlaque says:Confusion, yet again: The PPP is not free from blame.

FOReigN NewS

Story on Page 17

ARTS & eNTeRTAiNMeNT

Story on Page 19

SPORTSYounus warns B’desh to get ready for spin onslaught

Story on Page 20

Bin laden was not at Qaeda helm before raid

WASHINGTON:Documents foundin the Pakistanihome whereOsama bin Ladenwas killed in Mayshow the al Qaedaleader no longerhad any role in op-erations, a US ex-

pert who reviewed the evidence saidWednesday. The expert, who asked not tobe named, said the 200 pieces of evi-dence - notebooks, files, computers andUSB drives - recovered by the US com-mandos who staged the raid in which hedied, showed “it had been quite a whilesince he was involved in the day-to-daymanagement of the organisation.”“The writings we recovered are mostlygeneral position papers, along the linesof ‘We must continue to attack the US’ or‘Can the Somali Shebab be trusted?’” thesource said. “In one small blue notebookfrom February 2010, he wonders if onemember should be promoted, who shouldbe named to replace another killed in adrone raid. But nothing about opera-tional management of the organisation,”the source added. About a third of theitems confiscated were about personalfamily matters including efforts by one ofhis wives to find a husband for one oftheir daughters, the source added. AFP

SC to resume ‘memogate’ hearing on 19thISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJ) IftikharMuhammad Chaudhry with consent ofother judges has fixed December 19 asthe date for resumption of hearing inmemo case by the nine-member SCbench. Notice has also been issued to theAttorney General for Pakistan.

earlier on December 1, the nine-member SC bench headed by the CJhad obtained the consent of formerFIA director general Tariq Khosa towork as the head of the commissionformed to probe the ‘memogate’ issue.However, Khosa later refused to lead

the probe.The SC registrar placed the matter

with the CJ, who directed him to circu-late the note about Khosa’s inability toall bench judges.

All the judges then agreed to hearthe case on December 19.SC ADmONISHES AG fOR ISSu-ING ‘mEmOGATE’ CASE CLARIfI-CATION: Chief Justice of PakistanIftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry onThursday admonished Attorney Generalfor Pakistan (AGP) Maulvi Anwarul Haqfor issuing clarification in the media thathe had appeared before the nine-mem-ber Supreme Court bench in the “mem-ogate” case on court notice and did not

represent the federation.During the hearing of a suo motu

case pertaining to torture on a 15-year-old boy by police, the CJ told the AG thatbeing the chief law officer of the country,he represented the whole federation,thus he could not be asked in every casethat whether the government had per-mitted him to represent it or not.

The CJ said the AG’s appearance inany case would be a representation ofthe government and there was no needto issue him notice in every case.

He further asked the AG that if amatter was critical, his appearance be-fore the bench was binding.

“If you want the court to ask you to

get permission from the government foryour appearance in every case, the courthas no objection, but your (AGP) officewill be disgraced by it,” the CJ said.

In his clarification issued to media,the AG had said that he had appearedbefore the nine-member larger bench interms of Order XXVII-A of Civil Proce-dure Code, 1908 as principal law officeof the court in response to a noticeserved on him.

He had issued the clarification aftersome TV talk shows had stated that thefederation was represented by the AG,whereas PPP leaders and ministers hadcontended that the federation was notheard by the court.

lHC seeks replyfrom imran Khan,politicians on assets

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Justice Khalid Mahmood Khan of the La-hore High Court (LHC) on Wednesdaysought comments from Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan andother politicians in a petition seeking de-tails of their assets.The court issued orders to the respondentsto file comments duly supported by theiraffidavits. Among other respondents arePakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif, National Peo-ple’s Party leader Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi,Moeen Qureshi and former prime ministerlate Benazir Bhutto. Justice Khan orderedthe politicians to submit their commentswithin 15 days and adjourned the hearingtill January 10, 2012. The court issued thisorder on a petition filed by Barrister JavedIqbal Jafree who said in his petition that aLHC bench had ordered the freezing of as-sets owned by former prime minister Be-nazir Bhutto (late) and her husband AsifAli Zardari, now president.

islamabad police arrest 5 ‘terrorists’ISLAmAbAD: The Capital City Police onThursday night foiled a terrorism attemptin Islamabad after arresting five allegedterrorists, who were involved in variousterrorist activities in Swat and other areasof the country. According to sources, thepolice conducted a raid on a tip-off at Pin-dorian, within the Shahzad Town PoliceStation precincts and arrested five terror-ists. The arrested persons have been identi-fied as Dilaram Khan, Ali, Rasul Khan,Nadir Khan and Idrees Khan. They belongto Swat and were allegedly involved in vari-ous terrorist activities, the police sourcessaid. Inspector General Police (IGP)Binyamin confirmed the arrest of five ter-rorists, adding that further investigationwas underway. STAFF REPORT

Religious delegation inquires

after Maulana wahab LAHORE: A religious fraternity delega-tion led by World Islamic OrganisationChairman Dr Sheikh Mazhar Shafi calledon Tablighi Jamat Ameer (PakistanChapter) Maulana Abdul Wahab and en-quired after his heath. Maulana Wahabhad been recently hospitalised for deteri-orating health. Dr Sheikh said MaulanaWahab was an asset for the Muslim com-munity and Pakistan. STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

INFORMATION Minister Fir-dous Ashiq Awan on Thursdaysaid the military and civilianleadership of the country were

on the same page vis-à-vis a new planof action for future terms of engage-ment with NATO and US forces in thewar on terrorism and no pressurecould hamper the government’s re-solve in this regard.

“every country has to see its own in-terests. We have our own interests and alldecisions will be taken in the national in-terest. The matter of framing the propos-als for future terms of engagements iswith the Parliamentary Committee onNational Security. Once the proposals aredrafted, they will be brought before thejoint session of parliament which will de-cide the way forward for the governmentand we will follow the same,” she saidwhen asked whether the US presidentwas pressurising Pakistan to resumeNATO supplies.

Asked whether the government wasmaking efforts to put the memo contro-versy under the carpet, the minister saidthe government was not making any sucheffort and the government was commit-ted to conducting fair and transparentenquiry into the matter. She said after theissue emerged, Prime Minister YousafRaza Gilani summoned ambassadorHussain Haqqani and asked him to re-sign. “Since the matter is with theSupreme Court, it will decide the matter.

Haqqani’s name was put on the exit Con-trol List (eCL) in line with the SC orders.No one else respects the SC more than thegovernment,” she said, indicating a U-turn of the government against the PPP’sprevious stance taken by PPP leader DrBabar Awan, Khurshid Shah and QamarZaman Kaira around a week ago in defi-ance of the court’s verdict.

Asked whether the governmentwould submit its response with the courton the “memogate” issue, the ministersaid the court had sought a response fromthe federation of Pakistan and the gov-ernment would submit a unified responseafter taking all stakeholders on board.

She said the cabinet had beenbriefed by Military Operations DirectorGeneral Major General Ishfaq NadeemAhmed on facts and figures regarding

the NATO strike on checkposts inMohmand Agency. She said the militaryoperations DG also answered ministers’questions.

She said the cabinet decided to expe-dite institutional reforms and restructur-ing of major public enterprises andaddress the energy crisis on a prioritybasis. “In view of the urgency to improv-ing performance of the power sector, PIA,Pakistan Railways and Pakistan SteelMills, the prime minister has directed tohold cabinet meetings every week insteadof every fortnight,” she said.

She said Gilani directed the authori-ties to ensure uninterrupted gas supply todomestic consumers and evolve a gas-sharing formula in consultation withother stakeholders like industrial, com-mercial and CNG sectors. The informa-tion minister said the cabinet alsoapproved two-hour load shedding incities and four-hour load shedding inrural areas to meet the energy shortage inwinter but the prime minister directed totake all power sector stakeholders intoconfidence on the decision. “The cabinetdecided to charge every consumer of elec-tricity and asked to ensure refund of GSTon electricity bills. After dissolution ofPePCO, the government is pursuing apolicy of transparency and merit for de-ployment of chief executive officer(CeOs) of distribution companies,” shesaid. The minister reiterated the govern-ment’s resolve to recover the defaultedamount in the power sector and said sofar the Water and Power Ministry had re-covered over Rs 2 billion.

NEW DELHI: A total of 124 Pakistanis are in various In-dian jails for their involvement in “unwanted” activities andthree of them have been sentenced to death, Indian mediareported on Thursday. Informing the Upper House of par-liament, Indian Minister of State for Home Affairs JitendraSingh said the repatriation of Pakistani nationals was cov-ered under the Protocol on Consular Access and wheneverthey, including those considered terrorists, were arrestedfor their involvement in any anti-India activity, the Pakistangovernment was officially intimated about their arrestthrough diplomatic channel.

He said the Indian government then arranged for pro-vision of consular access to these Pakistani nationals andthe arrangement was made in central jails.

“Once the Pakistani government confirms the national-

ity of these nationals, they are repatriated to Pakistan aftercompletion of their sentences under Indian judicialprocess,” Singh said.

In response to another question, the government saidNGOs based in foreign countries, particularly those whichprovided a safe haven to terrorists acting against India, wereconsidered a potential source of terrorist funding.

A number of foreign charitable trusts and NGOs havebeen identified by the United Nations for their alleged rolein financing of terrorist organisations.

“No such organisations or their front organisations aregiven permission to receive foreign contribution under theForeign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010,” Singh said,adding that the existing statutory and legal structure pro-vided adequate provisions to deal with such outfits. ONlINE

124 Pakistanis are in Indian jails

g Firdous says govt committed to conducting transparent memo enquiry

‘Unity on redrafting termsof engaging NATO’

Eilat bombing mastermind killed in Gaza strike Court asks police to book Vidya for obscenity

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04Friday, 9 December, 2011

News

ISlAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s sons Abdul

Qadir Gilani, MPA, and Ali Musa Gilani, who will be contesting

the by-election from NA-148 vacated by Shah Mahmood Qureshi,

call on PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday.

SC upholds previous verdict onNRO, orders implementation

ISLAmAbAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan onThursday issued the detailed verdict in the review case ofNational Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). The 31-pagedetailed verdict drafted by Justice Tassadaq Hussain Ji-lani said the federal counsel was heard but he failed togive arguments to build the case and the parliament didnot validate the NRO. Dismissing the government’s pleasto review the NRO verdict, the Supreme Court in its de-tailed verdict ordered the government to immediatelyimplement its ruling in letter and spirit. The detailedverdict bears signatures of all the 17 judges comprisingthe full court that heard the case. “It may be observedthat this court is seized with the matter relating to reviewof the judgment dated 16.12.2009 in pursuance whereof,the National Reconciliation Ordinance, 2007 was de-clared void ab initio, being ultra vires and violative ofcertain articles of the Constitution, therefore, to bedeemed non est from the day of its promulgation,” saysthe judgment. It adds: “However, after hearing thelearned counsel for the petitioner from 21st to 24th ofNovember, 2011 at length and having gone through thedocuments as well as considering all the aspects of thecase relating to the Review Petition filed under Article188 of the Constitution to review the judgment dated16.12.2009, we are of the considered opinion that no caseis made out for the review of the said judgment. Resul-tantly, the Review Petition and CMA No 5144/2011 aredismissed with no order as to costs. The concerned au-thorities are hereby directed to comply with the judgmentdated 16.12.2009 in letter and spirit without any furtherdelay.”The detailed judgment upheld Supreme Court’sverdict on NRO of December 16, 2009 and declared NROvoid ab initio being ultra vires and in violation of variousconstitutional provisions including articles 4, 8, 25, 62(f),63(i) (p), 89, 175 and 227. STAFF REPORT

Justice (r) Iqbal said that thecommission had completedinvestigations with Osama’sfamily and had asked thegovernment to repatriatethem under the law of theland. Responding to a ques-tion about threats to thecommission, he admittedthat the members of thecommission had occasionallyreceived threats “but we areready to sacrifice our livesfor the national interest”.

He said the commission’sreport would also point outlapses of any security organi-sation, if any, irrespective ofits power and influence. Thecommission chairman onceagain appealed to all seg-ments of society to come for-ward if they had anyknowledge about the incidentand their names and the in-formation so provided would

remain confidential. He alsosaid the commission in-tended to meet ministers,parliamentary committeesand, if necessary, the highestofficials of the land to ascer-tain the truth.

He said the purpose ofmeeting eminent and rele-vant persons was to benefitfrom their views and sugges-tions with regard to thescope and content of thecommission’s report.

“These meetings will beconducted confidentially toencourage the invitees tospeak and advise with theutmost candour and withmaximum specificity insteadof confining themselves togeneral statements,” he said.

He said the report of thecommission would cover thedomestic, the bilateral Pak-istan-US, and internationalcontext in which the inci-

dent of May 2 occurred. “Itwill detail internal and ex-ternal developments in therun-up to the incident.These include the sequenceof events from the com-mencement of OperationNeptune Spear to its com-pletion and exit of its opera-tional personnel fromPakistani territory, the pre-cise conduct of the US raid-ing and assassinationoperation at the OBL com-pound, and assess the re-sponses of all Pakistani civil,intelligence and military in-stitutions and personnelconcerned, including theirleadership,” he added.

The chairman said thecommission’s report wouldseek to provide answers orinformed and best possiblesurmises with regard to awhole range of outstandingquestions. “These include

whether Osama was presentand killed in Abbottabad,any ground level supportthat might have been avail-able to him while in Pak-istan, explanations and theirevaluation with regard to thefailure to detect his presenceand especially in Abbot-tabad. It will also includewhether or not any prior in-formation was shared withPakistani authorities regard-ing the raid to minimise ca-sualties and the risk ofmilitary escalation andwhether or not any groundsupport was available to theinvading US kill mission. Itwill examine why the USopted for a unilateral mis-sion in view of the fact thatPakistan had rendered verysignificant cooperation inthe apprehension of verysenior al Qaeda operativesprior to the incident,” he

added.He said the commis-

sion’s report would also con-tain lessons, findings andrecommendations to avertany future repetition of suchhumiliating and outrageousincidents.

“In the light of its find-ings and analyses the com-mission will make a series ofspecific recommendationsfor securing the future ofPakistan,” Justice (r) Iqbalsaid.

He assured that the re-port would be comprehen-sive, specific and relevant tothe challenges confrontingthe country. To a questionabout whether the commis-sion would recommendpenalties for those foundguilty, he said the commis-sion would pinpoint thingsand it would be for the gov-ernment to take action.

Zardari sent questionnaire on Abbottabad raid: IqbalContinueD FroM Page 1

the government to providedetails of the agreementsand assurances, either ver-bal or written, made with theUnited States and NATO forit to formulate recommenda-tions for parliament with re-gards to new terms ofengagement on counter-ter-rorism cooperation.

“The committee has de-cided to summon the offi-cials of the Foreign Officeand Defence Ministry in itsnext meeting to be held onDecember 13 so as to appriseit about the agreements andassurances given to the USand NATO, either verbal orwritten, before it formulatesrecommendations for parlia-ment,” Rabbani told re-porters as the committeemet here at ParliamentHouse. He said the Defence

Ministry would also be askedto give its input on theagreements and assurances.

Rabbani said the com-mittee took up two issues inthe meeting, the NATO at-tack on Pakistani checkpostsand the memo issue. He saidthe committee had decidedto summon all concernedwho, in any way, could helpthe committee in reachingthe facts. “After the commit-tee discusses all the facts inlight of the agreements andassurances given by the Pak-istani government to US andNATO, it would formulate itsrecommendations for parlia-ment to be discussed in thejoint session,” he said.

However, he added thatparliament could discuss andreview the recommenda-tions. He said the basic direc-tion in the recommendations

would remain the same aswas provided in the parlia-mentary resolutions on thesubject. To a question, Rab-bani said it was up to the gov-ernment whether to table therecommendations in thejoint session to be addressedby the president or to sum-mon a separate session forthe purpose.

On the memo issue,Rabbani said the committeehad chalked out a work planon how to proceed in this re-gard. A committee member,on condition of anonymity,told Pakistan Today that thecommittee had decided totake up the NATO attackfirst and the issue of thememo would be taken uplater. The committee de-cided that all the evidenceon the memogate scandalwould be collected first and

then all the witnesses wouldbe summoned, said themember.RAbbANI bRIEfS: Sena-tor Rabbani also called onPrime Minister Yousaf RazaGilani here at PM’s Houseon Thursday and briefedhim and Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) Chairman Bi-lawal Bhutto Zardari on thedecisions taken by the com-mittee. Rabbani briefed theprime minister about the co-operation required from var-ious ministries of the federalgovernment. A source saidRabbani also discussed howthe committee would dealwith the memo controversy,since the Supreme Court hadalready taken up the matter.

Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to the US SherryRehman was also present atthe meeting.

NATO raid pre-planned, no trust in probeContinueD FroM Page 1

To a question about the pres-ent status of Pak-US relations,he said Pakistan had bilateralrelations with the US andunder instructions from thecabinet and the DCC, those re-lations were being reviewed.

Basit avoided answeringquestions about the health ofPresident Asif Ali Zardari andhis departure for Dubai fortreatment.

He said Pakistan boy-cotted the Bonn Conference onAfghanistan following theNATO attack. “However, itdoes not mean that Pakistan isdissociated with the peaceprocess of Afghanistan,” headded.

He said future relations ofPakistan with NATO dependedon the decision of the foreign

policy review in that regard.“Pakistan is still committed toplaying an important role inthe peace and stability ofAfghanistan along with the in-ternational community,” hesaid.

He said further that thedecision to boycott the BonnConference was based on thelarger national interest butPakistan would continue withits efforts for peace and stabil-ity in Afghanistan.

On negotiations on theissue of Osama bin Laden’sfamily to be handed over toSaudi Arabia and whetherSaudi Arabia had contactedPakistan formally, he said:“Not to my knowledge.”

Responding to a query onreports about Dr Ghulam NabiFai pleading guilty to charges

of accepting funds from theInter-Services Intelligence(ISI), he said: “Yes, we haveseen the reports. We are stillawaiting details of his reportedconfession from our embassyin Washington DC. At thisstage, I therefore would refrainfrom commenting on this de-velopment.”

Answering a questionabout the Australian govern-ment’s decision to export ura-nium to India, Basit said: “Wedid take up this matter withthe Australian government. Asyou all know, Pakistan has al-ways tried for a non-discrimi-natory regime for cooperationin civilian nuclear technology.You also know that Pakistan isan energy deficient countryand our energy needs havebeen multiplying.

Stop the blame gameContinueD FroM Page 1

Police officer shot,

gunman at large:

Virginia Tech

WASHINGTON: A gun-man was on the loose onThursday at Virginia Techafter he shot a police officerand possibly a second per-son, said the university,scene of a 2007 massacre inwhich 32 people died. “Sus-pect remains at large. A po-lice officer has been shot. Apotential second victim is re-ported at the Cage lot. Stayindoors. Secure in place,” ittold students and staff on itswebsite (www.vt.edu). Colle-giate Times, a student news-paper, said on its Twitteraccount that one person hadbeen killed. It also tweeted aphotograph of a parking lotwith what appeared to be ashrouded body on theground, surrounded by po-lice tape. AFP

ISLAMABADRANA QAISAR

While the health bulletin is-sued by President Asif AliZardari’s personal physicianCol Salman gave a messageof hope saying that the pres-ident was stable, comfort-able and was resting afterinitial tests and investiga-tions had been within nor-mal range and further testswould be carried out, ru-mour-mongers in the federalcapital continued to have afield day on Thursday sus-pecting the claims of the

president’s close aides thathe would return soon.

“He (the president) hasresigned,” was the rumourthat remained on top ofeverything, leaving many tospeculate whether he wouldcome back or stay abroad forthe rest of his five-year termon medical grounds.

The argument to supportthe president’s strategy ifthere was any – to leave thecountry at a time when thepolitical scene is heating up,the opposition turningagainst him in and outsideparliament and the Supreme

Court also warming up totake the NRO and the memoissues to the “logical” end –is that he would not resignor give in, rather he wouldbrave the situation thatseemingly appears to costhim his presidency.

In this case, the option isto stay in Dubai on the pre-text of ill-health with hishandpicked Farooq H Naik,the Senate chairman, offici-ating in his absence as actingpresident - the constitutiondoes not specify a time pe-riod beyond which a personcannot hold the office of the

head of state because of illhealth. The choice remainswith the president whetherto resign or not, thoughthere are other constitu-tional provisions available toremove him. “He will not re-sign,” a very confident friendof the president, who knowshim for ages, said.

But what his close aideshere say – of course theycannot give the exact datebecause they don’t knowwhat exactly the tests indi-cated and what the doctorsprescribed – is that he willreturn; a political but at the

same time an imprecise ar-gument. Certainly, they can-not say that he will notreturn. The development inDubai was that the presidenthad been shifted from theICU to a normal hospitalroom where he was said tobe resting to recuperate.This is a positive sign. Whatthe medical tests, which are,as we are told, yet to be car-ried out, will indicate re-mains to be seen.

An official statement onWednesday said the presi-dent would remain underobservation for some time.

Understandably, a cardiacpatient needs to be keptunder observation and againno one knows how long hewill be advised to stay inDubai under the observationof his doctors. The hope,however, here is that he willget well soon and return toresume his responsibilities.

Nonetheless, his detrac-tors do not give him the ben-efit of ill-health. They seesomething deeper than whatmeets the eye. Their take isthat there is a blessing indisguise and the presidentwould use this opportunity

in his political interest andhe would stay abroad to waitfor the dust to settle.

Bilawal Zardari’s meet-ing with Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani is beingseen in the context of a con-spiracy theory that PresidentZardari has decided to stayaway and he has launchedhis son in politics. It was forthe first time on Wednesdaythat Bilawal had co-chairedwith the prime minister ameeting of PPP with a selectgroup in attendance. What-ever, the things will startgetting clear soon.

on National Security. Askedwhy the government did notcome up with a clear stance onthe president’s health, the min-ister said there was a forum forqueries on any issue. “The In-formation Ministry deals withmatters about the presidentand the prime minister. Thepresidential spokesman is theright person for queries aboutthe president. Contradictionsand chaos are triggered whenirrelevant ministers are con-tacted as everyone wants toadd something, which resultsin contradictions and ru-mours,” she added. NO REASON TO SPECu-LATE: Meanwhile, US Secre-tary of State Hillary Clintonsaid on Thursday the UnitedStates had no reason to specu-late about President Zardari’smedical condition and ex-pected him to be able to returnto work in full health. Clinton

was responding to reporterswhen asked about the possibil-ity that Zardari might not justbe in Dubai for health reasons,but in the process of beingpushed out for political rea-sons. “We have no reason tospeculate about that,” she tolda news conference.GILANI: Separately, PrimeMinister Yousaf Raza Gilanitelephoned Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) Presi-dent Nawaz Sharif to thank himon his own and on behalf ofPakistan People’s Party (PPP)Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari for his kind words andprayers for the swift recovery ofPresident Zardari. Gilani alsotold the federal cabinet thatPresident Zardari was in stablecondition and he had spoken tohim on Wednesday night. Hesaid that the president was re-luctant to go to Dubai for med-ical treatment but he waspersuaded after consultations.

Zardari ‘stable’ContinueD FroM Page 1

Rumours still abound in federal capital

ISLAmAbAD: The ForeignOffice dropped a clear hint onThursday about Pakistan’s dis-agreement with the UnitedStates over its policy to link fu-ture US aid to any country withthe protection of gay rights. Areporter drew the attention ofForeign Office SpokesmanAbdul Basit here at his weeklypress briefing to a statement atthe recent UN Human RightsCouncil meeting by US Secre-tary of State Hillary Clinton inwhich she said gay rights werehuman rights and in future USaid would be linked with en-suring them. Basit was toldthat the UN reported that rep-resentatives of about 47 mis-sions were present there andnobody walked out and therewas standing ovation for Clin-

ton. He was asked if Pakistan’spolicy had changed on theissue and if he thought gayrights were human rights?“This issue has been comingup at different internationalforums. Recently, I rememberat the Perth CommonwealthHeads of Government Meet-ing, a delegation did proposesome language on gay rightsfor the Perth communiqué,and I remember several coun-tries including Pakistan didnot support the language forinclusion in the Perth docu-ment,” said Abdul Basit. “Weare of the view that these aresensitive issues and sometimesthey directly clash with peo-ples’ and counties’ cultural andreligious ethos,” he said fur-ther. STAFF REPORT

Pakistan disagrees with

linking US aid to gay rights

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Friday, 9 December, 2011

PA session on 12th PAge 06

g S&gAD starts implementing rules demanding officers, including those working in BPS-17 for years, to clear

departmental examination in addition to MPDD training and three-year service

LAHOREUMAIR AZIZ

Acontroversy has started inthe Punjab Civil Secre-tariat over condition of ex-amination forregularisation of Provincial

Management Service (PMS) officers inBPS-17, Pakistan Today has learnt.

The Services and General Adminis-tration (S&GAD) Department recentlystarted implementing rules, which de-manded that an officer must clear thedepartmental examination in additionto the MPDD training and three-yearservice. But the rule of taking the de-

partmental exam was not practiced inletter and spirit and officers have beenworking in BPS-17 for years.

According to details, out of 200 offi-cers from batches of PMS I, II and III, 106have cleared the exams so far, while 86have been left out of whom 74 are promo-tees while 12 are direct appointees. The di-rect appointees are fresh and have no issueas such to take departmental exams, how-ever it has initiated serious unrest withinthe ranks of officers who have reachedBPS-17 after years of service, many ofwhom actually started their service as jun-ior clerks. Talking to Pakistan Today, asection officer, seeking anonymity, saidthe recent move to take the departmental

exam has given rise to a controversywithin the official quarters alleging “theDMG officers are taking revenge againstthem for taking part in a recent strike andbeing vocal against them”. “The qualifica-tion of a junior clerk is Matriculation andafter more than 30 years of service he be-comes a section officer in BPS-17 and nowin his 50’s the S&GAD has asked him toappear in an exam and take six papers oflaw. This is unjust by any principle of law,”he said, adding that the existing rules donot demand giving departmental exams.

“They will not regularise a junior offi-cer before his senior because if they super-sede a senior it will be against the law andhence they have not done it so far,” he

added. Sources said that a commissionwas set up to resolve the matter with inputfrom the finance department, regulationswing and law department and both secre-tary law and regulation were vocal againstimplementing this condition “out of theblue” and termed it “unjust”.

“Moreover, the S&GAD has not regu-larised even those officers who havecleared the exams and failed to show theregularisation orders when the secretaryregulations demanded for it in the com-mittee meeting,” they added.

However, Additional Secretary ehsanBhutta said the departmental exams aremandatory according to PCS Act Section5, 1974 and according to Rule 7 of the PCS

Appointment and Condition Rules, 1974.“The step is historic and has been taken toregularise all BPS-17 officers as per thelaw for the first time,” he said, adding thatno new rules have been devised, whileonly old rules are being implementedwithout any discrimination and only 86officers are left while enquiries are pend-ing against seven others, while a majorityhas already cleared it, he added.

‘Get well soon Mr President’

Controversy hits Punjab Civil Secretariat

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Punjabchapter held a prayer service for PresidentAsif Ali Zardari’s health at its provincial sec-retariat on Thursday.

A large number of party workers, localleaders and PPP Punjab-office bearers, in-cluding PPP Punjab General SecretarySamiullah Khan, Finance Secretary Au-

rangzeb Burki, Usman Malik and othersparticipated in the service. PPP leaders saidthat Zardari was vital to unite the whole na-tion at this crucial time, as he was the onlyleader who could get the country out of pre-vailing crises. They told journalists thatthere was no reality in rumours of PresidentZardari’s resignation and the forces involve-ment in spreading fake information were infact enemies of democracy and the country.

Aurangzeb Burki said that PresidentZardari’s health was now stable and hewould return to the country in a few days tolead the nation. He said that Zardari wasthe first leader who started the politics ofreconciliation, which gathered all demo-cratic forces at a one-point agenda.

PPP leaders said that the party was or-ganising a public gathering at residence ofAslam Gill on December 18 where severalparty leaders, including PPP Punjab Presi-dent Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, PresidentZardari’s Punjab Coordinator NaveedChaudhry, Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas andothers will address workers. The PPP Mi-norities Wing, led by Napolean Qayyum,also prayed for the president’s health.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Maryam Nawaz, elderdaughter of Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N)President Nawaz Sharif,made her political debut onThursday by addressing aPML-N Women WingConvention at the Al-HamraHall. She disclosed that it tookher three years to convinceher father to allow her toenter politics. Maryam saidthat she was indebted to thepeople of Lahore for theaffection shown towards herand committed to serve thembest. Responding toallegations about assets ofher family, Maryam said thather family made rigorousefforts, established factoriesand earned a legitimateincome. She said that duringexile, the Sharifs preferredhard work instead of being fedby the Saudi Royal family andestablished a factory in SaudiArabia. Maryam termedNawaz as the one and onlyperson to challenge the statusquo in the country. She saidthat only the PML-N couldprotect the ideological andgeographical boundaries ofthe country in a befittingmanner.

Here comes the ‘Sharif princess’

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06Friday, 9 December, 2011

Lahore

Engro Corp Human Resources Vice President Tahir Jawaid

with MBA students at lahore School of Economics. PR

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LAHORESTAFF REPORT

POLICe Thursday handedover the body of a 22-year-old youngster, who com-mitted suicide late onWednesday night over his

younger brother’s arrest in a bike lift-ing case. The deceased was identified asIrfan Khalid, resident of Mohalla JandiWehra located in Bhaati Gate Police Sta-tion’s precincts.

As per details, police had arrestedIrfan’s younger brother Rizwan along witha motorcycle that was stolen according tothe police records. According to the officialaccount, Rizwan told Police that the bikewas purchased by his eldest brother Imranover which investigation officers fromBhaati Gate Police Station pressurisedRizwan and Irfan to present Imran, whomanaged to escape from his house.

On Wednesday night, Imran re-turned to his house after which Irfan re-

quested him to present himself beforethe police in order to get Rizwan releasedfrom police custody, but he refused to doso. As a result, they exchanged harshwords. Later, Irfan brought his father’spistol out and shot himself in his head,resulting in his on the spot death. Afterbeing informed, police reached the sceneand removed the body of the deceased tomorgue for an autopsy on suspicion.

On the other hand, Irfan’s family hadclaimed that he had seen investigatorstorturing his younger brother Rizwan atthe police station over which he got dis-heartened and later killed himself aftershooting himself in his head.

City Division SP Muhammad Anwarvisited the crime scene in order to clearthe doubts regarding the involvement ofpolice officials in pressurising the family.He met with the family of victim andrecorded their statements in this regard.

The SP after brief inquiry declaredthe incident as suicide and told thisscribe that Irfan committed suicide as re-

sult of his elder brother’s attitude.Police handed over the body to the

heirs who laid the deceased to rest afterfunerals late on Thursday night.YOuTH KILLED: A shopkeeper shotdead a 20-year-old youth over Rs 50 inMisri Shah Police precincts on Thursday.

Waqas, resident of Kachupura AreaMisri Shah had given his mobile for repaito a shopkeeper, namely Islam. Policesaid Islam initially demanded Rs 150 asrepairing cost, but when Waqas came totake his mobile back, Islam asked him topay an additional Rs 5o. As a result, theywere involved in a minor clash and ex-changed harsh words. Meanwhile, infu-riated Islam brought out his pistol andstraight fire on Waqas and escaped afterleaving him in pool of blood.

Police reached the scene and rushedWaqas to a nearby hospital where Waqaswas pronounced dead by doctors.

mAN POISONED: Swindlers killeda 30-year-old man by intoxicating him inKot Abdul Malik Police precincts. Arfaat

Ali, resident of Narang Mandi, had cometo visit Chowk Allah Hu shrine whereswindlers offered him poisonous sweets atwhich he fell unconscious. The swindlerstook his mobile phone and cash, and fledthe scene. Arfaat passed away later.

ACCIDENT: A lady died and twowere injured on Thursday in a car acci-dent in Shahdra Police limits. The car, H-733, ran over the footpath in Kala ShahKaku area of Shahdra. Police said NajmaBibi died in the accident, while two oth-ers, identified as Zafar and Arshad wereinjured and taken to the hospital. buILDING COLLAPSES: Police reg-istered a case against a contractor andowner of an under-construction three-storey building upon complaint of theCDGL Building enforcement Inspectorof UC-44. The under-construction build-ing at Amir Road in Shad Bagh area hadcollapsed, injuring three laborers. Thecontractor, Aslam was accused by resi-dents of the area of using substandardconstruction material.

LAHORENASIR BUTT

Punjab Governor Latif Khosa onThursday summoned the 32ndPunjab Assembly (PA) session forDecember 12 (Monday) at 3pm.

PA Speaker Rana Iqbal willpreside over the session to dis-cuss law and order in theprovince. Sources claimed thatthe Punjab government wouldget approved the bill of exten-sion of 180 days in local govern-ment (LG) elections, as theearlier deadline has passed. Onthe other hand, the oppositionwas finalising its strategy to grillthe treasury over the Punjab gov-

ernment’s poor governance anddeteriorating law and order forwhich opposition legislators sub-

mitted adjournmentmotions, call atten-tion notices and priv-ilege motions.

The session couldcontinue for 33 dayswhile according to

rules, the PA has to complete 57more days. It is expected that thesession would continue for threeweeks. Political analysts predictedthat the session would be a stormyone, as President Asif Ali Zardari’ssudden departure for Dubai forhealth reasons and rumours aboutthe federal government would cre-ate an interesting situation.

it’s going to be cloudyfor a while nowLAHORE: Partlycloudy weather islikely to prevail in thecity during the nextfew days while mainlydry weather is ex-pected in most parts ofthe country. Isolatedrain and thunderstormmight hit Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Malakand,Hazara and adjoining hilly areas today (Friday). Fog andmist would prevail in some plains of Punjab, KhyberPakhtunkhwa and Sukkur during early morning today(Friday). STAFF REPORT

Petition seeks help

for Quaid’s heirsLAHORE: A constitutional petition hasbeen filed in the Lahore High Court inwhich the petitioner is seeking somefinancial assistance for thegrandchildren of father of the nation,Quaid –e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.The petitioner says the grandchildren ofJinnah who are presently living inKarachi are very poor and that it is thestate’s responsibility to take care ofthem. The petition was filed by RanaIlamuddin Ghazi who contented thatQuaid –e-Azam had devoted his life forthe creation of Pakistan and rendered along struggle for it. The petitioner saidPakistan was such a big gift from Quaidthat the nation should always remainthankful to him. He said it wasregrettable that Aslam Jinnah andKhurshed Jinnah, the children of Quaid–e-Azam’s daughter, were in living lifein acute poverty and the governmentwas paying no head to their condition.He said two grandchildren of the fatherof the nation did not even have eventheir own house The petitioner has madethe federal government and the primeminister of Pakistan respondents in thepetition. He requested the court toorder the federal government and primeminister to provide financial assistanceto the two children of the daughter ofQuaid-e-Azam so they their financialproblems might be solved. He alsowished that efforts be made to reclaim theQuaid-e-Azam’s property in India andthat the same be handed over to his heirs.SEmINARS ON vIOLENCEAGAINST WOmEN ORGANISED:Strengthening ParticipatoryOrganisation (SPO), in collaborationwith Oxfam and the europeanCommission will hold a mediaconsultative seminar on the ‘Role ofMedia Reporting to eliminate TortureAgainst Women’, on Friday, from 3pmto 5pm, at the Holiday Inn hotel. Aprogramme preceding it would be heldbetween 10am and 12.30 pm, on socialbehaviour towards violence againstwomen at the Fatima Jinnah College forWomen in Chuna Mandi. STAFF REPORT

Brother’s ‘attitude’ kills boy

PA session on 12th

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07Friday, 9 December, 2011

LahoreHigh pressure CNgstations on the cards

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The Lahore Transport Company ismaking all its efforts to ensureuninterrupted natural gas supply to theurban transport during the days ofoutages and that the company isworking in a close liaison with the SuiNorthern Gas Pipeline Limited(SNGPL). This was stated by LTCChairman Khwaja Hassan during ameeting of LTC Board of Directors hereat the Chief Minister’s Secretariat onThursday. He said the high pressureCNG stations would be setup in order toprovide uninterrupted gas supply to theurban transport. He said that through atransparent process, the state land willbe leased for setting up of these stations. He said that private parties would bepre-qualified for up gradation ofexisting stations into high capacity CNGfilling stations for urban transport busesin Lahore. He said the upgraded stationswould directly fill buses and they wouldalso be able to supply the CNG throughtheir mobile units. He said that LTCwould soon enter into the agreementwith private parties for the provisionof CNG. He said that Bus RapidTransit (BRT) project will beimplemented on Ferozpur Road,Canal Road, Multan Road under aphased programme. He said someTurkish companies will shortly visitLahore in order to enter anagreement with LTC for establishingBRT Project in the City. The LTCchairman also announced that around575 buses would be available in Punjabby the last week of January next year.Out of these, he said, over 200 buseswould be operate in Lahore and whilethe rest in Multan, Bhawalpur,Rawalpindi and other cities of Punjab.

Qayyum Nizami demandsPPP workers convention

LAHORE: Senior journalist QayyumNizami on Thursday demanded thePakistan People’s Party (PPP) to hold anational workers convention on formerPM and PPP chairperson BenazirBhutto’s fourth death anniversary toevaluate the federal and provincialgovernment’s performance and discussthe party’s future. He said that old PPP workers, whosacrificed for the party, should beinvited to the convention to expresstheir thoughts. Nizami said that PPPChairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari andPresident Asif Ali Zardari shouldjointly chair the convention. The seniorjournalist said that party workers werenot taken into confidence during the lastthree and half years due to which thefederal government was facing crisesand the party’s future was in danger.STAFF REPORT

National Book

Foundation’s exhibitionLAHORE: National Book Foundation’sbook exhibition is underway and wouldconclude on December 31. Theexhibition is taking place at NationalBook Foundation, Cabinet DivisionGovernment of Pakistan ShadmanMarket. A 15 percent to 50 percentdiscount is offered on the books at theexhibition, which is open from 8am to4pm. STAFF REPORT

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

LAHORe High Court (LHC)Justice Manzoor AhmedMalik on Thursday sus-pended the three-year jailsentence of late LHC Justice

Munawer elahi’s daughter and formerPunjab additional advocate general,Seema Munawar, and ordered her release.

An accountability court last weekhad convicted Seema for withdrawingher father’s pension worth Rs.3,900,000 by declaring herself unmar-ried, while she was a divorcee.

Justice Manzoor issued the orderon petition of Seema, who submittedthat she had filed an appeal againsther conviction and had expectations ofbeing exonerated. He said as her ap-peal so far could not be fixed and therewas no expectation in the near futureof it being fixed. She prayed the courtto suspend her sentence in light of thesupreme courts’ judgment which al-lows suspension of conviction in sen-tence of few years.

The accountability court hadawarded a three-year jail term to Seema

along with fine of Rs3,900,000. In caseof default in payment of fine, the convictwould face further six-months of impris-onment.ISSuES NOTICE TO TCP, GOvT ONSuGAR mATTER: Lahore High Court(LHC) Chief Justice Azmat Saeed onThursday issued notice for December22 to the federal government and theTrading Corporation of Pakistan(TCP) on a plea againstpurchase of sugar athigh rates for UtilityStores Corporation ofPakistan (USCP). Theapplication was filedin public interest byAhmed ImranGhazi through hiscounsel AzharSiddique inpending petitionon the sugar matter. The petitionersaid that following a cabinet di-vision decision, the govern-ment had been purchasingsugar at Rs 65 per kg through atender by TCP, when the open marketrate of the commodity was Rs 53. Thepetitioner added that the decision would

cause a loss of Rs 2.5 billion to the na-tional exchequer in the wake of purchaseby USCP at higher rates and sale of thesame at subsided rates.NAb DISTRIbuTES RETRIEvEDmONEY IN DOubLE SHAH SCAm:

Punjab National Accountability Bu-reau (NAB) on Thursday distributed485.5 million rupees among 625 af-

fectees of the Double ShahScam, on Interna-tional Anticorrup-

tion Day. Thecheque distributionceremony took placeat NAB ComplexThokar Niaz BaigMultan Road, La-hore.

Punjab NABActing DG GpCapt (r)

Shamsher Alidistributed the cheques while

advising the recipientsagainst investing the money

in illegal businesses in thegreed of inflated profits in the future.

The Double Shah Scam is one of thebiggest financial frauds in the history of

Pakistan, which originated inWazirabad, district Gujranwala andSambrial district Sialkot region during2005-07. Investigation Wing-II DirectorTariq Nadeem said another 360 millionrupees would be paid to 650 affectees inthe near future. So far, NAB has made100 percent payment to 6,500 affectees,thus totalling disbursement to the tuneof 1,576 million rupees to the affectees ofDouble Shah Scam.SCAmmER HANDED TO NAb ONPHYSICAL REmAND: An accounta-bility court on Thursday handed overLeSCO employee Afzal Sharif to NAB onphysical remand till December 22.

The accused had been arrested fromLahore airport upon his arrival fromSaudi Arabia after performing Hajj.

Afzal Sharif is the co-accused ofLeSCO Chief engineer Farrakh Ali Shah,SDO Manzoor Hussain and Line Super-intendent Ghulam Sabir, involved in themisappropriation of materials causinglosses of RS 4.87 rupees to the nationalexchequer. The court also extended thephysical remand of Chief engineer Far-rakh Ali Shah, SDO Manzoor Hussainand Line Superintendent Ghulam Sabirtill December 22.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The Judicial Commission has held allchairmen and controller examinationsof all eight Punjab Boards of Intermedi-ate and Secondary education (BISe) re-sponsible for the failure of preparationof computerised intermediate examina-tions results.

The commission, comprising JusticeShahid Saeed, also gave recommenda-tions to the Punjab government regard-ing action to be taken against theaccused under culpable negligence. Herecommended that they not be ap-pointed on key posts in the future. If thecomputerised system had errors, themanual system run alongside it till it ismade foolproof, the report said.

The commission asked some perti-nent questions of the chief minister re-garding the appointment of juniorgrader Ahad Cheema on the high-gradepost of Higher education Departmentchairman while more qualified officers

were available, as it was in violation ofSupreme Court orders. The commissionsent the enquiry report, comprising 103pages, to the Punjab chief secretary andPunjab home secretary. The commissionprepared the report after recording state-ments of 42 witnesses, including of BISesofficialsof BISes union representatives,students, and other relevant officers.

Registrar of the commission Man-zoor Hussain Dogar told the media menthat according to the report, all thosechairmen and controllers examinationsof the BISes who were appointed ortransferred during the process of thecomputerizations of exams were respon-sible of the fiasco. He said former chair-man of Lahore BISe Akram Kashmiribeing the head of the biggest BISe wasmore responsible than others.

He said as BISes are autonomousbodies and have full control on theirmonetary matters but no one had raisedobjection over the appointment of DrMajid Naeem, former IT consultant withresponsibility of computerizing the

exams system of all eight BISes. The re-port said Majid changed face-pages ofanswer sheets which could not be fol-lowed by teachers and students. He alsoabolished the system of putting fictitiousroll numbers. He said 6 DMG officersrecorded statements and termed ap-pointment of Ahad Cheema as ChairmanHigher education Department as illegal.The CM should hold inquiry against himto establish that the appointment ofCheema was against the SC judgment orotherwise, Dogar said. He said the proj-ect of computerization of the exams wasworth Rs200m but their was no recordof the expenses. Dogar said according todetails Yousaf Samdani was appointedas IT consultant through proper proce-dure. Samdani purchased machineryand other equipments through tenders.Later Samdani was replaced with DrMajid Naeem who cancelled tenders andlater purchased machinery of Rs30 mil-lion. There was no notification for hisappointment and it was also not clearthat who had made his appointment.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

University of Health Sciences (UHS)Vice Chancellor (VC) announcedthat a war would be wagedagainst Pakistan Medicaland Dental Council(PM&DC), in solidaritywith the medical studentsof four newly establishedmedical colleges in Punjabwho had been denied recogni-tion from PM&DC.

Nearly 100 students from Sahi-

wal Medical College, KhwajaSafdar Medical College

S i a l k o t , G u j r a n w a l aMedical College and

DG Khan Med-ical Collegeg a t h e r e d

outside UHSto protest the

delay in recognition oftheir institutions by

PM&DC. UHS VC MalikMubashir, sympathising with the

affected students, said he wouldstand by their side if they began a

protest movement againstPM&DC. He said PM&DChad become Private Medical& Dental Council and wasplaying with the futures of800 medical students andtheir families, while per-suading students to leavethe road which they hadblocked to protest for theirdemands. The VC, however,sternly asked students to ap-pear in provisional examina-tions otherwise, he warned,they would be consideredfail in the exam. “Any delay inthe provisional examinationsor composite will be over mydead body,” Mubashir said inmeeting with the protesters’representatives.

Zardari in Dubai for

routine checkup: KhosaLAHORE:Punjab GovernorLatif Khosa saidPresident AsifAli Zardari hasgone to Dubaifor a routinecheck-up, addingthat hisdeparture waskept secret forsecurity

purposes. He would be back very soonand any rumours in this regard shouldbe snubbed, he said.He was talking to the media at thestone-laying ceremony of the BanazirShaheed Lawyers Hospital, which is anine-storey project for which the initialfunds for construction have beenreleased. It would provide medicalfacilities to members of the Lahore HighCourt Bar Association.TuRKISH DELEGATION CALLSON GOvERNOR: A 27-memberTurkish delegation called on PunjabGovernor Latif Khosa at Governor’sHouse on Thursday. STAFF REPORT

LHC suspends term of Seema Munawar

‘All BISE chairmen, exam controllersresponsible for Inter results fiasco’

UHS VC sides with students in PM&DC row

LHR 09-12-2011_Layout 1 12/9/2011 1:52 AM Page 7

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Lahore

g Speakers at SAFMA conference say a shift is taking place where the global economy is moving

from the west to South Asia

DOwN BUT NOT OUT: Shahbaz, a handicapped beggar, uses his 50cc motorcycle to earn Rs 500 per day by

begging and sells naan pakora in the evening to feed his five children. MURTAZA ALI

LAHOREXARI JAlIl

SAFMA held a special conference withreference to the SAARC charter day,where eminent speakers, including DrRasool Bakhsh Raees, Dr Akmal Hus-sain and Pakistan Today editor Arif

Nizami spoke on the South Asian situation.Dr Raees said that the South Asian region

was extremely important even in respect to therest of the world. But the deterrence to peace andstability in the region was the result of the end-less conflict of attitudes on different sides of theborders, he said. “Boundaries never change butit is the political will of the people on either sidethat must change to bring a difference in the sit-uation,” he said. “If we get rid of the sword, wewill have a much more peaceful South Asia,”Raees said. He said that India and Pakistan es-pecially must rid their rigid thinking.

“Peace is in our collective interest, and weshould continue to increase popular pressure sothat this is achieved. I am looking forward to theday where there will be common economiczones, and unrestrained, open economic trans-actions,” he said. “South Asia has endless oppor-tunities and these must be utilised,” Raees said.Without an aspiration to make a change, and theeffort to do so, he said, we cannot ever achievethat situation.

Dr Akmal Hussain spoke in detail about theeconomic situation, as well as the environmentaland resource situation and how these affectdemocracy and peace in the region. He said that

South Asia was facing many challenges thatshould be overcome to reach a point. He saidthat if this is done, by 2035, instead of China, itcould be South Asia which would be the eco-nomic power in the world.

“A shift is taking place where the globaleconomy is moving from the Western World toSouth Asia,” he said. “South Asia could be thebiggest economic powerhouse in history. How-ever, challenges are plenty,” Akmal said. He saidthat half the world’s population was living inSouth Asia, while a majority of this was livingunder the poverty line. “About 70 percent of thepeople in Pakistan and 77 percent in India areliving under the poverty line,” he said.

In order to beat this kind of poverty scales,he said, inclusive growth must be introducedrather than growth in spurts. This means thatthe middle and lower classes must be the ones togenerate the income and to enjoy its fruits,rather than the elite class, Akmal said. The otherchallenge was that the life support systems of theplanet were under threat because of the wayhuman beings have been consuming and produc-ing these resources, he said.

Akmal said that climatic changes thanks toglobal warming had increased to such an ex-tent that the frequency and intensity of cli-matic disasters had become more apparentespecially in South Asia. “With 64 percent ofpeople dependant upon agriculture directly orindirectly, this is a huge change because ofglobal warming,” he said.

Arif Nizami pointed out that India andPakistan being two of the most hardened rivals

in the SAARC countries, were the ones whichmust change their attitudes towards eachother. He said that unlike ASeAN, the SAARCwas often plagued by conflicts between thesetwo countries. “It will make things extremelydifficult if these conflicts are not sorted out,”he said. Nizami said that even though thingslook bleak from one point of view, from an-other, it seems as if there are developmentsbeing made, albeit slow.

“While India used to have a very narrowminded approach towards Pakistan, and it hasrecently opened their vision, Pakistan mustalso look within itself and see what it is doingwrong,” he said. “Why is it that so many polit-ical parties agree to improving relations butwhen it comes to the practical side, not muchis being done?” he questioned. “The question iscan we walk the talk?”

Nizami said that there were several vestedinterests in the reason for improving relationsincluding business and trade but there was amore important reason in the security paradigm.“We have the lowest growth rate excludingAfghanistan,” he said. “But the most importantissue we must look at is the nexus between thenon-state actors and the state. We are occasion-ally not on the same page with policy makers andimplementers, and we have conflicting ideasabout relations with India,” the Pakistan Todayeditor said.

He said that non-state actors especially thosethat are armed, can easily spill across bordersand create conflict which inevitably results inone country being pitted against the other.

‘South Asia can be biggest

economic powerhouse by 2035’

‘end violence againstwomen’LAHORE: The All Pakistan TradeUnion Federation (APTUF) and theWorking Women’s Organisation held aprotest rally in respect of the 16 days ofactivism against violence againstwomen under GS Robina Jameel whichwas held on December 8 at the pressclub. This included the demand for theprotection of female home-basedworkers, and the large percentage ofwomen employed by the informalsector. Speakers said women comprisehalf the population, and have globallytaken many steps forward. However,thanks to Pakistan’s feudal system,women were oppressed here, and weresubjected to hundreds of brutal andcold-blooded crimes. STAFF REPORT

Music workshop from 14th

LAHORE: The Lahore Arts Councilis organising a workshop on theongoing modern twist of South Asianmusic from December 14 to 16 at 3pmin the Al-Hamra Hall 3. The theme ofthe workshop is promotion,projection and establishment ofclassical, semi classical, sufi andcontemporary music through lectures,practical demonstrations, teachingand singing. This will help in raisinggeneral awareness, understandingand appreciation of music for theregion. Nadeem Salamat will beconduct the workshop. STAFF REPORT

LHR 09-12-2011_Layout 1 12/9/2011 1:52 AM Page 8

09Friday, 9 December, 2011

News

GUJRANWALASTAFF REPORT

GUJRANWALA electric PowerCompany (GePCO) workerson Thursday threatened tostop the power supply by

closing the grid station against the pri-vatization of Pakistan electric PowerCompany (PePCO) and the appoint-ments of private sector employs inGePCO in a huge demonstration heldat GePCO headquarters in Gujranwala.Thousands of workers staged a protestin front of GePCO office and marchedto Sailkoti Gate to demonstrate againstthe privatization of the PePCO.

CBA (Collective BargainingAgents) Gujranwala chapter Chairmantalking to Pakistan Today said the gov-ernment was appointing unprofes-sional people from the private sectoras chief executives in GePCO to pavethe way for privatization. He said that

we strongly condemn the policy of pri-vatization and will strive till the lastdrop of our blood to stop the privatiza-tion of GePCO. He said the incompe-

tent government had, instead of solv-ing the issues, set out to destroy na-tional institutions like PIA and steelmill and now PePCO. He maintained

that instead of ensuring the provisionof funds to existing power plants, theyspent billion of rupees on futile proj-ects like rental power plants to earnhuge commissions. He said that theappointments of private sector peoplein PePCO should be stopped immedi-ately. He said, “GePCO engineers arewith us and we will shut down thepower supply if our demands are notmet till 14th of this month.”

Pakistan Trade Union DefenseCampaign (PTUDC) Central executiveAdam Pal said privatization will leavethousands of workers unemployed andallow an unchecked hike in powerprices. He said a lesson should belearnt from the failure of the privatiza-tion of Karachi electric Supply Com-pany. He added that PTUDC andworkers from all the other institutionslike PTCL and other institutions wel-comed the strike call and would extendtheir support.

g CBA gujranwala gives govt Dec 14 deadline to reverse privitisation measures, fire private sector employees

GEPCO workers threaten to shut down power

‘extremists’ withinreach of Pakistannukes: gingrich

WASHINGTON:Republican presi-dential hopefulNewt Gingrichsaid on Wednes-day that Pak-istan’s nucleararsenal was at riskof being seized by“extremists” who

had probably infiltrated Islamabad’smilitary. “My guess is that they havewell over 100 nuclear weapons and thatthe Pakistani military is so penetratedby extremist elements you have no ideaif one morning, they are going to losethree or four of them. I mean just havethem stolen,” Gingrich told CNN’s Situ-ation Room programme. Gingrich, a vet-eran Republican who has surged inrecent weeks to the top of the pack ofcontenders vying to unseat DemocraticPresident Barack Obama, also deridedPakistan’s claims that officials did notknow Osama bin Laden had been hidingthere for years before elite US forcesfound and killed him in May.“The Pakistani military was capable ofprotecting bin Laden for six years,” inAbbottabad, Gingrich said. AFP

Jail reforms need tobe implemented

ISLAMABADTAHIR NIAZ

Non-implementation of jail reforms and over-crowding, clubbed with drugs, is leading to arise in immoral activities in jails across thecountry.

According to a report on the country’sjails, non-implementation of jail reforms hasnot only led to an increase in the crime rate,but it has also led to immoral activities in jails.The jail reforms include separation betweencriminals of mild-natured crimes and hard-core criminals in jails, besides improving thecondition of jail inmates that could ensurethat jails act as a reformation centre instead ofcriminal institutions. According to the report,it was also recommended in the reforms thatsocial personalities would frequently visit jailsto help turn the criminals into law-abiding cit-izens, but it was not implemented.

The recommendations of the FederalShariat Court have also not been implementedin letter and spirit, the report added. TheShariat Court had recommended the govern-ment make arrangements for conjugal visits ofspouses of inmates. A conjugal visit is a sched-uled extended visit during which an inmate ofa prison is permitted to spend several hours ordays in private, usually with a legal spouse.While the parties may engage in sexual acts, thegenerally recognised basis for permitting sucha visit is to preserve family bonds and increasethe chances of success for a prisoner’s eventualreturn to life outside prison. So far, sucharrangements have been made at the CentralJail in Karachi and Peshawar, but other prisons

across the country lack the facility. The report pointed out that the facility is

meant only for the influential prisoners andordinary prisoners are denied the facility onone pretext or the other.

Rather, the facility has become a mintingmachine for prison officials, the report added.In some cases, a jail inmate is allowed tospend time with his spouse in the office of jailhigh-ups. The quality of food and health facil-ities at the prisons, especially for women, in-cluding availability of gynaecologists, was alsounder question.

The alarming aspect of the report is thatnon-implementation of jail reforms has alsoled to sexual relationship between male in-mates. Jails of Sindh are leading the numberson the activity, while Punjab is placed second.

Prisoners involved in petty crimes usuallybelong to poor families and don’t have thepower and resources to get bail. Subsequently,they gang up with hardcore criminals in jailsthat subsequently leads to increased crimerate. According to the report, there are 32 jailsin Punjab, 21 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 17 inSindh, six in AJK and three in Northern Areasin which around 90,000 prisoners are housed,much more than capacity.

Overcrowding is one of the main issuesthat need to be addressed, as it creates prob-lems like drug addiction, miserable food con-ditions, limited availability of space andspreading of various diseases of the skin, hep-atitis and TB. A few months ago, Prime Min-ister Gilani asked the authorities concerned toprepare recommendations for jail reforms,adding that the focus should be improvementin the condition of jail inmates and jails shouldact as a reformation centre instead of produc-ing criminals. However, nothing substantialhas been worked out so far to bring a changein jails, which are without doubt contributingto criminal activities in and outside prison.

g Denial of conjugal rights granted by FSC causing

rise of male-male relationships in jails

ISLAmAbAD: Disposing a suo motu casepertaining to torture on a 15-year-old boyby Lahore Sabzazar police, the SupremeCourt directed the Punjab inspector gen-eral of police to submit the inquiry reportby DIG (Investigation) Maj (r) Mubashir-ullah with the SC registrar within twoweeks. A two-member Supreme Courtbench of Chief Justice Iftikhar MuhammadChaudhry and Justice Tariq Parvez ex-pressed dissatisfaction over the perform-

ance of Punjab Police, observing it hadfailed to protect the lives and property ofthe citizens.

Appearing on notice, Punjab IG JavedIqbal and acting Punjab advocate generalMuhammad Hanif Khattana informed thecourt that no police torture on the teenagerwas proved in the inquiry report.

Khattana said he had investigated thematter personally but no torture had beenproven. STAFF REPORT

SC seeks fresh report on police torture of teenager

LHR 09-12-2011_Layout 1 12/9/2011 1:52 AM Page 9

10Friday, 9 December, 2011

News

MIRRORED IN THE wATER: The GoldenTemple of Amristar is seen lit up and reflected in the adjoining pond. NAdeeM IjAZ

Spotlight on the Lashkar-e-JhangviISLAMABAD

AFP

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the Pakistani terrorgroup blamed for deadly attacks on Shias inAfghanistan this week, has forged ties to alQaeda and the Taliban in a murderous cam-paign to wage sectarian warfare.

Since its inception in 1996 by a religiousfanatic from the Deobandi school ofthought, which considers Shias apostates,the faction has claimed to have killed thou-sands of Shias in bombings and shootingsacross Pakistan.

It takes its name from Maulana HaqNawaz Jhangvi, the founder of terror groupSipah-e-Sahaba from which leader RiazBasra broke, and preaches indiscriminateviolence to make Pakistan a purely SunniMuslim state.

A suicide attack tore through a crowd ofworshippers in Kabul on Tuesday as theymarked the holy day of Ashura, killing 55people, as a second blast in the northern cityof Mazar-e-Sharif left four more dead.

There has been no confirmation of apurported claim from Lashkar-e-Jhangvisplinter al-Alami, but Kabul blamed thegroup for Tuesday’s massacre, unprece-dented in targeting such an important reli-gious holiday in Afghanistan.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is not thought to

have struck in Afghanistan before.“We will pursue this issue with Pakistan

and its government very seriously,” saidAfghan President Hamid Karzai, threaten-ing to ratchet up tensions with Islamabadwhich are already frayed over accusations ofsponsoring violence.

Afghan officials say the motive was toinflame a 10-year Taliban insurgency anddrastically increase violence by importingPakistan and Iraq-style sectarian conflict asNATO combat troops prepare to leave by theend of 2014. A substantial rise in sectarianunrest could also draw arch US foe Irandeeper into Afghanistan, threatening towhip up proxy wars.

The Taliban denied involvement, but ina cauldron of violence where Islamist terrorgroups are interlinked and have overlappingallegiances, experts say it would have beenimpossible for Pakistani killers to have actedalone. As with al Qaeda, the Taliban and Is-lamist groups the world over, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was born from the ashes of the1980s Afghan war against the Soviet Union,which was sponsored by the CIA, Pakistanand Saudi Arabia.

The group’s leaders were veterans ofthat conflict and its ranks populated bygraduates of Pakistani madrassas packed offto terror training camps in the mountains onthe Afghan-Pakistani border or in Pakistan’s

southern Punjab.It developed close ties to al Qaeda and

the Taliban, which ruled in Kabul from 1996until the 2001 US-led invasion.

Although there are reported ties withPakistani intelligence, the state formallybanned the group in 2001 and there havebeen numerous crackdowns with arrestsand killings of known Jhangvi operativesover the last 20 years.

Islamabad has asked Afghanistan toprovide proof that Jhangvi militants wereresponsible for Tuesday’s attack, but it is un-derstood that Afghan officials do not haveany hard evidence.One official said thebomber was a Pakistani from Kurram, partof Pakistan’s militant-infested lawless bor-der region with Afghanistan, and a specificflashpoint for sectarian unrest.

But as long as doubts persist over theal-Alami claim, it remains unclear how ex-actly the group could have carried out theattack.

“The question is, how credible is theclaim? Some Taliban groups can do thesame as they share school of thought withLJ,” said Pakistani-based security analystHasan Askari. Militancy expert RahimullahYusufzai also doubted the claim, saying thatthe splinter group’s capacity is very limitedeven in Pakistan, which has seen a recentdecline in attacks linked to its own bloody

Taliban insurgency.“There is one possibility that this group

may have support of al Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or some of the rogue ele-ments inside Afghanistan,” Yusufzai.

Jhangvi’s founder Basra has been deadfor a number of years. Reports differ onwhether he was killed in an explosion or ashootout with security forces.

A senior Pakistani security official said

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and other extremistgroups are “hand in glove with the Taliban”.

“But they cannot carry out such an at-tack on their own. This would have surelybeen a Taliban-connected operation,” hetold AFP.

“Al-Alami are basically the Punjabi Tal-iban, who were involved in the attack on(army) GHQ (general headquarters) twoyears ago,” he added.

g Tracing the history of the sectarian murderers from Pakistan blamed for the attack on Afghan Shias

g Kausar promises to set up high-level committee to oversee FATA reform

Teacher shot dead, unidentifiedpeople demolish house

PESHAWARSTAFF REPORT

Unidentified armed persons killed aschool teacher in Shangair, JamrudTehsil, while in a separate incident anunder-construction house was demol-ished by unidentified persons in KhugaKhel, Landi Kotal Tehsil on Thursday.According to sources, Human RightsCommission of Pakistan Khyber AgencyCoordinator Zarteef Afridi was going to agovernment school to teach when he wasintercepted and shot to death by uniden-tified armed persons. The assailants es-caped from the scene, while the localadministration officials reached the sceneupon receiving information and took thebody into custody. In another incident,some unidentified men demolished anunder-construction house of atribesman by planting explosives in thepremises in Khuga Khel, Landi KotalTehsil on Thursday. According to sources,a bomb went off at the Sefat Gul house at1:50 am. Four rooms and the veranda ofthe house were caved in as a result of theexplosion.

govt can’t surviveanymore: imran

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chair-man Imran Khan has said the govern-ment could not survive further as thestate’s conditions were going from bad toworse by the day.Talking to reporters at Allama Iqbal Air-port, Lahore, on Thursday, he said thecountry needed transparent electionsmonitored by an independent judiciary.Saying free and fair election in the coun-try was a must, the PTI chief demanded afair interim government before election.He said rigging in polls would resulted infurther degradation of the situation.To a question, Imran said the authoritieshad yet to permit his party to hold publicmeeting in Karachi, but efforts were un-derway to get the permission.He said it seemed difficult that the Pak-istan People’s Party (PPP) governmentwould complete its tenure.Imran said at least 45 percent votes in the2008 electoral rolls were fake and warnedthat the country’s situation might worsenif the upcoming elections were rigged.

PESHAWARSTAFF REPORT

KHYBeR Pakhtunkhwa Gover-nor Barrister Masood Kausaron Thursday said change inFATA has started and the

process will continue without impedi-ments. Talking to a Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) FATA delegation at Gover-nor’s House, Kausar said, “The implemen-tation of FCR reforms is being monitoredand action will be taken against politicalofficials who fail to implement it.”

The delegation, headed by MNAAkhunzada Chatan and PPP FATAChairman Malik Waris Khan, expressedreservations over the implementationprocess and slow pace of developmentdespite the allocation of a huge resources

for the task. They complained the politi-cal administration was non-cooperativebehavior about streamlining political ac-tivities in some tribal areas.

In response, Kausar said the govern-ment had introduced FATA reform togive relief to the tribal populationagainst the inhumane FCR and wouldensure that the people get the relief. Headded that the Political Parties Orderhad been extended to FATA to promotea democratic culture in FATA. He prom-ised to set up a high-level committeecomprising elected representatives andpolitical figures to oversee the FATA re-forms implementation process.

South Waziristan Agency MNAMaulana Abdul Malik also called onKausar. Meanwhile, talking to a Mut-tahida Qabael Party delegation under

chairman Malik Habib Orakzai, Kausarreiterated the commitment to promotingthe political process in tribal areas. NEW PESHAWAR CORPS COm-mANDER CALLS ON KP GOvER-NOR: Newly-appointed PeshawarCorps Commander Lt General KhalidRabbani had a courtesy call on KhyberPakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Ma-sood Kausar at the Governor’s House onThursday. He remained with the gover-nor for some time and discussed mat-ters of mutual interest. Presiding over aceremony of affiliation of Kohat Insti-tute of Medical Sciences to KhyberMedical University at Governor’s Houseearlier, Barrister Masood Kausar saidimprovement in quality of educationwas the best way to improve the livingstandard of the people.

‘Change has started in FATA’

LHR 09-12-2011_Layout 1 12/9/2011 1:53 AM Page 10

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

Editor’s mail 11Friday, 9 December, 2011

Colonial education systemOur education system has never

kept equality since we became inde-pendent; it followed a British imple-mented system as well as the localeducation system which we call matricsystem. The main issue with this in-equality is that the one who goes to theBritish implemented system (O-A lev-els) feels himself to be far more supe-rior than those going to the matricsystem.

The message is that we have to copythe ways of the superior colonialists tomake progress in life. So it’s only obvi-ous that our role models naturally be-come western, whether they aresportsmen, movie idols or pop stars.Today our english-language schoolsproduce Desi-Americans though theyhave never been abroad.

We should have got rid of this sys-tem a long time ago. In other colonialcountries, like Singapore, India andMalaysia, they set up a unified core syl-labus for the whole country. In Pak-istan, the government allowed thisunjust system to perpetuate.

Students educated in these schoolshave great advantages over the lessprivileged children since most of the jobopportunities in prestigious civil serv-ices go to the people who can speakenglish well. They feel Urdu as a back-ward language, but they find it cool ifthat Urdu is mixed with some englishwords.

The education system also affectsour dressing, living and behaviour. Asimple solution to this problem is thatthe education system should maintainequality and follow the system estab-lished in Singapore, India andMalaysia.

QURAT-UL-AIN FARRUKHKarachi

Veena’s shameful actI don’t know why some of our actors,

like Veena Malik, are crossing all the lim-its just to get a few pennies. There arecertain limits which must be drawn bythe people visiting aboard even for theirpersonal projects and the respect anddignity of the country and nation shouldbe kept at the top.

One is amazed what Veena wants toachieve through these cheap and dirtymeasures. She has surpassed some of thepoliticians as well who never botherabout the interest of the nation. Veenahas not only let down the people of hercountry but has defamed a secret agency.

DR HASNAT NABIIslamabad

The respect factorIt is a fact, as strange as it may

sound, that we have lost appeal and re-spect for elders in our society. The youthis busy in their education, sports activi-ties, internet, and mobile phones.

They like to sit in front of a PC or TVinstead of talking to a real person whomay even help them in the ways of theworld. Their mind is more inquisitiveand they are far more adventurous thanthe older lot but nothing matches experi-ence. Most of the older generation feelsbeing shunned out of their lively liveswhich is having a rather negative impacton them. A respectful life is what theyexpect after chipping in their share tothe society.

We should respect our elders be-cause they are the real source who giveus a meaningful advices for our living.

HINA KHAWAJAKarachi

Sharifs’ political survivalDuring the hearing of Nawaz Sharif’s

petition on Memogate in Supreme Court,he said that he had no confidence in theparliament. Therefore, he has requestedthe Supreme Court to form a commissionto investigate the Memogate scandal. Iwould ask Nawaz Sharif that if he has noconfidence in the parliament then whyhis party MNAs have not resigned fromthe parliament? If he wants early elec-tion, he should ask his party members toresign from the National Assembly andPunjab Assembly.

He should not forget that his brother,the chief minister of Punjab, and he him-self, are not willing to let go of the CMchair. There are a number of issues thatdirectly concern the people, such as highinfluence and energy crisis. Why isNawaz Sharif not presenting the solutionto these problems? Is it not his responsi-bility to present alternative solutions tosuch problems on which the governmenthas failed due to its faulty policies?

Imran Khan has posed a new chal-lenge to Nawaz Sharif for his politicalsurvival. It is now 30 years since NawazSharif has been in politics, out of whichhe was twice the prime minister. Had hebeen able to put the country on the righttrack? every thoughtful Pakistani knowsthat the establishment is the most pow-erful and real decision-maker of ourcountry’s destiny. Why has he not beenable to understand this reality while hewas patronised by General Zia-ul-Haq tobecome first the chief minister of Punjaband then prime minister of Pakistan?

I would like to ask what good gover-nance Shahbaz Sharif, who was chanting“Go Zardari Go” at the Lahore rally on 28October, has delivered to the people ofPunjab?

In fact, he is ruling 65 percent of thecountry’s population. Has he made Pun-jab any more welfare province? Has hebeen able to reform the police force? Hashe improved education and health stan-dards in the Punjab? Has he been able tocontrol inflation?

S T HUSSAINLahore

Media ethics in PakistanA vicious propaganda is being carried

out on the media against PresidentZardari in the wake of his departure toDubai for a routine medical check-up. Itseems that many Dr Goebbles are pres-ent in our era with the same irrationalapproach. They are using this platformfor hate-mongering.

There is a freedom of expression inthe country, as our Constitution states inArticle 19 that “every citizen shall havethe right to freedom of speech and ex-pression, and there shall be freedom ofthe Press, subject to any reasonable re-strictions imposed by law in the interestof the glory of Islam or the integrity, se-curity or defence of Pakistan or any partthereof, friendly relations with foreignStates, public order, decency or morality,or in relation to contempt of Court,[commission of] or incitement to an of-fence.” But this doesn’t mean that certainelements shape some incidents accordingto their own interests, setting aside na-tional interest. There should be a propercheck and balance on it. The propagandawhich has been spread on the socialmedia following Foreign Policy maga-zine’s report “President Zardari sud-denly leaves Pakistan — is he on the wayout?”, is totally speculative as has beenofficially denied by the president office.

Media is a major player in shapingpublic opinion and public perceptions. Ithas the power to change the public opin-ion and this power can be used for goodpurposes. This newfound power of mediais now being used by political actors toset agenda of their choice, influence pub-lic opinion or to create good or bad senti-ments in people’s minds regarding anysegment of polity.

If we believe that we need media co-operation to shape, direct and protectPakistan’s current national interests,then we need to engage this importantstakeholder from a new pitch. There is aneed to set up a self-regulatory non-gov-ernmental media ethics commission, likethose in the UK and other countries, tomonitor senseless reporting and ensureimplementation of code of ethics formedia in Pakistan.

HAFIZ MUHAMMAD IRFANIslamabad

who played a double game?

The MemogatePakistan is seriously facing a leadership crisis. Our so-called

leaders have forgotten all ethics and morality in running stateaffairs. They can do anything to save their government fromcollapse. What is amazing is that 180 million people of Pakistanare with them. I think they are living in a fool’s paradise. Therecent development of Memogate is a clear example of poorgovernance and lack of patriotism within the leadership. All thegovernment machinery is busy nowadays in formulating strate-gies to save their party co-chairman from going to jail, if provenguilty.

One thing is clear that the government of the day is in-volved in this scandal as it can be seen from their party workers’frustrations and panic. If they are not involved in this scandal,they could have sued the newspaper and Mr Mansoor Ijaz forthis treacherous scam against their government.

Why are they not doing it? The PPP is caught up in a trapknitted by themselves. They cannot play games forever. I thinktheir days are numbered as they are in deep waters now.

ASMA AHSANIslamabad

The myth of the US aidAs per a report, the White House said

last Friday that it may veto a Senate billfor blocking aid to Pakistan until Islam-abad takes aggressive steps to curb theuse of roadside bombs that kill Americansoldiers in Afghanistan. There is always adrumbeat that a huge amount is given asaid but Pakistan is not doing enough, isplaying double game, is supporting ter-rorists and American taxpayers’ money isnot free for all etc.

Similarly, our media in the race ofbreaking news broadcasts these reportswithout verifying. Moreover, mistrustamong the institutions also gives wind tothis type of propaganda.

Once again the American media,their lawmakers and think tanks are ac-tive after the brutal killing of 24 Pakistanisoldiers in a Nato attack. Gen Jones’statement that Pakistan is moving on thepath of self-destruction and any Mumbaitype attack on India will have grave con-sequences is not out of context. The pres-sure tactic is being used to subdue thePakistanis.

We made a grave mistake by joiningthe USA club after independence. Indiaextended the hand of friendship to Sovi-ets and they proved to be the real all-weather friends whereas we were alwaysbeing deceived and ditched at all the fo-rums by the US.

Sanctions are imposed every now andthen and no efforts or help is given by theAmerican to the people of Pakistan. Theydidn’t established even a single megaproject for the welfare of the people andonly less than $500m given out of $3bnunder Kerry-Lugar Act, whereas theUSSR gave us our steel mill. They nevergave us aid; whatever is given is takenback in shape of consultancy charges,

payment of the weapons and servicescharges. In the last ten years, Americapaid only $8bn in Coalition SupportFund, and more than $6bn are outstand-ing since last one and half year.

Pakistan has already expended thisamount from its meagre resources. Onthe other hand, more than $10 billion permonth are being spent in Afghanistan bythe US.

The losses of Pakistan in this war onterror are more than $70 billion but stillit is we who are blamed. We need to puteverything in black and white and recon-sider what we gained and what we lostwith the friendship with the Americans.If more than 60 percent of Americansand 70 percent Pakistanis think that weare enemies, not friends, something iswrong somewhere then and leaders ofboth countries should think upon it.

SHAHID ZAHURRawalpindi

Falling education standardeducation means training for life.

The main aim of education is threefold –physical, mental, and moral developmentof human personality. We find a constantfall in the standard of education.

There are various reasons behind theproblem. everyone is equally responsi-ble, the government, teachers, parentsand students.

The government is indifferent to theproblems. The changing governments inthe country have failed to assess the realcauses of educational deterioration. Theeducation administration is slack, cor-rupt and rather helpless against the stu-dent community. There are no properchecks on the functioning of the educa-tional institutions. Accountability ismissing at all levels.

The parents are equally responsiblefor the falling standard. Home plays themost important role in shaping the think-ing and character of children and youth.In fact, a mother’s lap is the first schoolfor a child. Parents are over indulgentwith their children. They are allowed todo as they please. Lack of proper up-bringing of children is a main cause ofpoor discipline. Parents have no strictcontrol on youth.

The teachers, in general, are theproduct of our corrupt society. The pri-mary schools are the nurseries of the na-tion. But our primary teachers are theleast qualified and lowest paid. How canthey raise good crop?

At college and university level, veryfew teachers are devoted and dedicated.It’s a common complaint that teachers donot take classes regularly; they come lateand leave the classes before time. Theheads are rather helpless before the polit-ical appointees. The greatest responsibil-ity for these ills falls on the studentcommunity in general. Absenteeism, ir-regularity, unpunctuality and indisciplineare common practices. The governmentis sleeping or ineffective. Not acquire-ment of knowledge but easy papers andfake degrees are the aim of education forthem. Peace that is a must for learning ismissing. examinations have becomemore a test of unfair means and dishon-esty than of attainment and proficiency.

KAINAT ABDUL MAJEEDKarachi

Pensioners strike“Two millions strike in Britain over

pension charges.” Welcome to the thirdworld, sirs.

Z A KAZMIKarachi

Recently, a crispy article ‘CallingPakistan’s boycott bluff’ by JenniferRowland appeared in the Foreign Policymagazine, a piece holding intruded per-ceptions. To Jennifer the killings of 24Pakistani soldiers proved as a ‘face-sav-ing bluff’ on the part of the country’s se-curity establishment.

A ‘bluff’, which allows the military todictate its terms to the United States,provides a strong stance against Ameri-cans by avoiding the Bonn Conference,gives an opportunity for Pakistan’s armyto muzzle the chattering mouths accusingthem of wilful neglect in missing binLaden’s presence in the garrison town ofAbbottabad and grant a chance for pur-

suing a double game in fighting somemilitants in the tribal region of the coun-try while giving others safe haven.

The way Ms Jennifer has analysedthe incident, the atrocious attack seemsmore as an American ‘blunder’ than anyother bluff, if it offers Pakistan that muchways to make a move.

Nevertheless it is neither an Ameri-can blunder nor providing Pakistan aface-saving benefit; it is plainly a calcu-lated move of the US. As it was a deliber-ate attack, obviously the after-effects willbe a result of plan as well. If US wouldhave sought Pakistan to be present atBonn Conference it must have apologisedto Pakistan for killing 24 soldiers. On the

contrary, the US’ denial to make an apol-ogy cornered Pakistan’s standing in in-ternational community while it didn’taffect the ‘money-collection’ purpose ofBonn Conference. Hence the ‘bluff’ waswell-designed.

As far as the incident of 2 May is con-cerned, the facts about the episode arestill dubious and after the Memogateissue it’s quite perceptible that the inci-dent was essentially materialised to de-fame Pakistan Army and its intelligenceagency.

Hence, the prior incident itself was adouble game and so is the recent one.Pakistan Army is not playing doublegame in fighting the militants, its sacri-

fices in this so-called war on terror arewell-known to the world and even at thetime of Nato attacks, ISI had given spe-cific information to Isaf about reports of40 or so terrorists planning to mount anattack in the Salala region or trying toslip farther inside Pakistan.

What good Nato attacks did to thesemilitants, puts a big question mark on itsown credibility. Slanting statements can-not crack the certainty. Things are greatlymessed up and Pakistani nation is in asheer need to watch and understand sce-nario carefully before digesting the bi-ased views by western media.

MOMINA ASHIERIslamabad

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Comment12Friday, 9 December, 2011

Arif NizamiEditor

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

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

For Bilawal, many obstacles ahead

A baptism of fire?

While the PPP core committee has decided toshift the public focus from Memogate,contradictory statements regardingZardari’s sudden departure for Dubai have

given birth to still another controversy. On Tuesday, thepresidential spokesman had categorically stated that thevisit was pre-scheduled, that Zardari had traveled toDubai to see his children and undergo medical testslinked to a previously diagnosed cardiovascularcondition. The suggestion was that the president’s visitwas not dictated by any unusual heart related episode onMonday night. Later, a PM house spokesman said thedoctors were yet to determine whether the president'scondition was due to an adverse reaction to themedication he was taking or a development related to hispre-existing cardiac condition which suggested that thevisit might have been necessitated by a heart-relatedepisode in Islamabad. A day later, Dr Asim Hussainreiterated the earlier stand that the president’s medicaltest was according to schedule. He made a newrevelation, however, that it was upon arrival in Dubaiwhen President Zardari’s health deteriorated. What isneeded to do dispel the rumours that create uncertainty isa statement from the doctors treating the president.

The PPP core committee meeting was co-chaired byGilani and Bilawal Bhutto. The latter was tasked byZardari to help Gilani in sorting out party affairs. Thiswas in keeping with the PPP culture which requires aBhutto family member to arbitrate between partyleaders as none considers another, whatever his positionin the party hierarchy, in any way superior to himself.This explains why Zardari was content with co-chairmanship of the party, conceding the chair toBilawal Bhutto who was still an undergraduate atOxford. Bilawal’s presence ensured that the corecommittee meeting had smooth sailing.

This may not be the case for long though in casePresident Zardari was not to return soon. A number ofhighly divisive issues have to be settled in days to come.These include the allotment of party tickets for the MarchSenate elections. The issue of a local bodies systemacceptable to both the PPP workers and MQM cannotcontinue to hang fire for long either. Bilawal will soonfind that he is required to go through a baptism of fire.

As usual

Cornered in

Our current phase of tensions with the outsideworld is going to get worse before it gets better.For starters, the attack on the Ashura mournersin Kabul have led to fingers being pointed to

Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and because of that,yes, the Pakistani deep state itself. Then there is the caseof the alleged Kashmiri ISI spy in the US, Dr GhulamNabi Fai, who has confessed in a Virginia court of hiscrime. Foreign countries paying huge sums to lobbyists isnothing out of the norm (AIPAC, anyone?) but theslightest of hiccups at moments like these can amount tomuch turbulence.

Regarding Pakistan, there are, roughly, two schools ofthought in American policy circles. The usual hawks-and-doves pair. These schools, in an even rougherclassification, fit into the defence and state departments.The latter wants US policy to ease up; the former wantsincreased proactive military engagement. But beforethings come to the pass of any increased militaryconfrontation, an example of which is the Salala incidentin the Mohmand agency, there is the issue of aid. In thisregard, the task of the pro-Pakistan lobby is a little toughin these times of grave financial constraints. It is also athankless job, with US legislators being surprised whenthey passed a bill (Kerry-Luger) that would fork out $7.5billion to the Pakistani government, only to be met byoutrage on the streets and airwaves of Pakistan. Such anattitude then feeds into the rhetoric of the Americanright. To quote a particularly candid John McCain, ifPakistan has chosen “to embrace terror and back theHaqqani network”, it should do so “without subsidiesfrom the US taxpayer.”

It is in these times of tumult that certain quarters aredemanding greater swagger from both our governmentand armed forces. An insistence of being in the wrongplace at the wrong time. Discretion is the better part ofvalour. The people of Pakistan deserve better than this.

He ain’t going nowhere!love him or hate him

even if you are an unabashed criticof the man, you have to grant himone thing, even if grudgingly: AsifZardari has been one really ago-nising thorn in many a side these

last four years or so. Post-Benazir Bhutto, notmany would have given the PPP and AsifZardari, reverse the order if you want to, muchof a chance of hanging on to power for as longas it and he has. Come to think of it, the partyhas already surpassed the PPP’s longest stintin office in the 1990s.

The extreme dislike, even hatred, thatZardari evokes in so many power centres –the establishment, the judiciary and the op-position combined, not to mention a verylarge part of the media – is almost visceral.Or so it seems.

It is moot whether the grin plasteredacross his face riles his opponents more orbeing outdone by him time after time. Butin the last few years he has definitely infu-riated people, by mostly being one up onthem and fending off attacks with the facil-ity of a born survivor.

With Memogate in full swing, the powers-that-be in fits, and the Supreme Court order-ing the establishment of a commission(according to a newspaper report, called ‘a fullblast judgment’ smacking of ‘unfairness’ by theex-SCBA president Asma Jahangir) on NawazSharif’s plea, the time it seemed was ripe tothrow the target out of the saddle.

And when Asif Zardari boarded a flight toDubai with reports of a heart attack and talkof a physical impairment in the air, the onlytwo words that could have stirred up suchemotion among his antagonists were ‘softcoup’. Foreign Policy magazine provided

these, and the rumour mongers had the fod-der. To them, the man they all loved to hate,was gone – hopefully for good.

There was talk of the strong-willed, almoststubborn-minded, Zardari no longer havingthe nerve to tackle the all-out, relentless andno-holds-barred onslaught from multiplefronts and had thrown in the towel. The cir-cumstances just seemed right. Babar Awan’spress conference after the aforementionedSupreme Court decision, evoking themetaphor of martyrdom and the PPP’s willing-ness to embrace it yet again, also hinted thatthe decisive blow was nigh.

The elation was unalloyed and uncon-cealed, reflected in Shah Mahmood Qureshi’sdemeanour on the box, as if power was comingto him on a platter at a brisk pace, and AhsanIqbal’s many tweets. A sampling: “180 millionPakistanis are praying for the heart fail of MrZardari’s government” and “Zardari’s govern-ment is a health risk for Pakistan”.

But after so many inspired forecasts by anarmy (pun not intended) of pundits – it indeedhas been a non-stop litany of rumour-monger-ing and Zardari bashing from the day the PPPgovernment stepped into office but to no avail– has he finally gone? The picture slowlyemerging from Dubai suggests anything butthat. He is keeping himself busy; betweencheckups, he’s meeting important people andtaking calls – hardly the routine of someonewho was about to cash in his chips, and prom-ising a return home within the next few days.One will know shortly, and for sure, if his so-journ in Dubai is extended or not.

One thing though is as obvious as any-thing could be. Zardari is not without hisfaults, but a quitter he is not. Not by a longshot. He didn’t buckle under when in the1990s one Nawaz Sharif goon in the guise of apolice office threatened to slit his throat in aprison cell. He didn’t compromise during hislong years of incarceration. And he has shownexceptional pugnacity since Benazir Bhutto’stragic demise. To see the back of him, his op-ponents need to bury him. Nothing short ofthat would do.

The pressure brought to bear on Zardari,(“the noose around his neck”, to borrow froma quote in Foreign Policy), by powers-that-bemay have weighed heavily on his mind. Andafter all he does have a history of cardiac is-sues. And he may have wanted medical advicethat he could trust. But in all probability thismight have been a sort of tactical retreat – just

to withdraw from the fray, to assess, regroup,weigh options and come back recharged withthe counter punch, to continue his tilt at thepresidency. And what nicer place for a coolR&R than the safe and familiar environs of theVVIP wing at Dubai’s American Hospital?

Take a dispassionate look at the situation.Zardari’s opponents may deceive themselvesthat the deck is now stacked against him, thatthings are coming to a head with the opposi-tions now gelling well with the judiciary, andthe security establishment having cause to befurious at its undercutting exposed throughMemogate. To them, this might be the time togo for the jugular. That is why they were gun-ning for Zardari with such vengeance.

But from Zardari’s viewpoint, all is notlost, by no means. With his allies not ditchinghim, he still has the numbers on his side. Thatis why only ultra-constitutional means canchuck him out, and that is why the dubioustactic of a soft coup or a change foisted fromwithin the PPP minus Zardari is being dis-cussed as a possibility.

For Zardari, there is incentive enough intoughing it out and riding out this tempest.With only three months to go between nowand March 2012, the PPP is virtually on thehome run for the critical Senate elections. Thecurrent sound and fury is the last throw of thedice by the opposition – and if it doesn’t panout as it wanted it to, after all its endeavours itwould cut a sorry figure in the public mind,making Zardari’s stock soar.

Another factor that is supportive ofZardari is the situation in Afghanistan and thefact that the acrimony with the US that hasput the army in a spot from where it couldtamper with the current political dispensationonly at the risk of further unsettling the do-mestic front. Not something that a halfwaydecent strategist in the vicinity of Rawalpindiwould suggest.

It seemed to have happened eons ago, butthe talk show host who accredits himself withso more investigative stories than everyoneelse put together, not just in this country butthe entire universe, it would seem, in his frus-tration remarked with words to the effect, that“to evict Zardari from the president houseyou’ll have to send him packing in an ambu-lance”. In poor taste, and professionally pa-thetic, but not off the mark by much, you’d say.

The writer is Sports and Magazines Edi-tor, Pakistan Today.

The US is here in Afghanistantill at least 2014. If (for thesake of argument) Pak-

istan’s blocking of the NATO sup-plies is anything more than aclever gimmick, the US will need along-term alternative route. TheRussian route is not just uneco-nomical but some American cir-cles believe that it is also fraughtwith dangerous implications forthe long-term strategic interests ofthe US. Russia, Tajikistan andUzbekistan might not let arsenalspass through anyway. Thus withno feasible alternate route, thesordid romance of Pakistan andthe US will definitely rekindle,though on a ‘give-more’ basis.

After the incident of 26th No-vember, we suddenly are on thenegotiating table with the USagain. A lot of Pakistanis believedthat we sold our services to the USfor peanuts; a chance has come upto revise the price tag – this time

on our terms (Who’s the daddynow, eh?). The US isn’t a dumbblonde either; of course it will tryto push the figures down one wayor the other. All you need is oneMullah Omar popping out of thePak domain and there goes ourarmy back into their garrisons.The chief just declared ‘suspend-ing’ the chain of command in theevent of another breach of sover-eignty, proving that the army willsettle for nothing less than a re-newal of terms.

Meanwhile, the whole nationis cheering Kayani’s new attitudetowards the US. But since the twocan’t remain divorced for too long(who is to blame when the deal isin dollars and the prospects are inthe form of a share in the nextAfghan government!), they willsoon kiss and make up. The ques-tion is who will face all the insultsfor this volte-face. The govern-ment, of course.

2014 happens to be the elec-tion year in Afghanistan as well.There is a growing demand on thepart of the stakeholders to shiftfrom a presidential form of gov-ernment to the parliamentary sys-tem. If this happens, whetherparty based on non-party based,the parliament will end up being amosaic of fragmented constituen-cies. The now somewhat curbedTaliban will then attain a freerhand in their constituency andthat too democratically.

This is a bleak picture for the

US. The US’s effort to mollify theTaliban by negotiations in the ab-sence of Pakistan has alreadyfallen flat on its face. Whether theUS likes it or not, Pakistan and theTaliban are the biggest stakehold-ers in this whole scenario, and thetwain has to be taken on board,together, and soon. The two arehere to stay long after the US isgone. The delusion of strengthen-ing the Afghan National Armywith an aim to neutralize eitherhas to end now.

The US’s self-proclaimed ob-jective is nation-building inAfghanistan, but this of course ispure propaganda. If they were se-rious in building a nation, theywould have done it back in 2001before they destroyed it alto-gether. For this reason, the stakeholders – including PresidentHamid Karzai – don’t really trustAmerica. The American trackrecord of not looking back oncethey vacate a destroyed war zonedoesn’t help either.

The US has declared that theywill continue to fund the Afghaneconomy, which presently consistsof $17 billion, out of which 90% isforeign-funded. The Afghan armylaps up $5-6 billion out of this!The US is aware of the fact that theday they leave, tens of thousandsof young Afghans who are workingfor the western military bases andembassies will also lose their jobs,adding even more to the alreadyconsiderable Afghan troubles.

Ultimately, all sorts of negoti-ations will have to take place viaPakistan. They have to. The BonnConference wasn’t fruitful for thesame reason. As evident, Obamahas regretted the loss of the slainPakistani soldiers. The US haseven created a commission to re-view this fiasco and to bring theculprits to justice. PM Gilani hasshown a willingness to have work-able relations with the US rightafter Kayani’s order to dismiss thechain of command. Since the for-eign policy is in the hands of theestablishment, the message to USthat the army is willing to play ballif the conditions are right is loudand clear. The conditions of courseinclude money, rules of operationbetween the two militaries, theshares in Afghanistan, etc.

In the near future, however, itis unlikely the US will go for thenon-violent strategy. The NATOsupply will resume through Pak-istan, and the war on terror willalso continue for the time being.And you will see that the politi-cians who were vociferously de-ploring this war only a few daysback will then rest their vocalchords just like they did on theKashmir policy till the establish-ment feels the need to raise the barfor auctioning their services again.

The writer is a member of theband Beygairat Brigade that hasrecently released the single AalooAnday.

We kiss and we make up!

JottingsBy Agha Akbar

By Ali Aftab Saeed

The bad Pak-US romance

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Comment 13Friday, 9 December, 2011

So there we go again! Pak-istan seems to be a partic-ularly blessed country

where there is seldom theproverbial "dull moment." Polit-ical scandals and conspiracy the-ories are in abundanceinvariably with clamour of someforeign factor at play.

We are in a state of confu-sion once again and panic but-tons are on. Uncertainty loomslarge with soothsayers pro-claiming President Asif AliZardari's endgame. Doing therounds are speculations, ru-mours, and screaming head-lines that the next 24 to 48hours are crucial for the coun-try, hinting that some majorchange is in the offing on thepolitical landscape. That 'theparty is over' and time for achange of guard or some newset-up of sorts has come.

While facts are being fever-ishly weaved with fiction fromvarious ends, the reality contin-ues to be blurred by wishfulthinking. All lobbies seem to beat work overtime giving spins tothe real story to suit their respec-tive interests and biases. In Pak-istan where there seems to be aparticularly rich appetite forconspiracies, rumours and talk-shows, the angles get wider andmore complex. Hysterical con-clusions are drawn on the basisof mere hearsay and specula-tions. The electronic media'scompulsion of ‘Breaking News’and improving channel ratingsadd more sensation, anxiety anduncertainty.

While there may be otherpolitical reasons for the sensa-tional comments on PresidentAsif Ali Zardari's ostensibly sud-den departure for medical treat-ment in Dubai, the Government

of Pakistan and the ruling Pak-istan People's Party themselveshave to take the primary blamefor generating a plethora of spec-ulations.

As has been the hallmark ofthis government, it is inconsis-tent in its statements and stanceabout the president's departure.It has not spoken with one voiceand each government represen-tative has a different version thatnaturally raises questions andhence suspicions. The govern-ment itself seems to have politi-cised the whole matter andcreated confusion upon confu-sion. Perhaps by design to keepeveryone guessing or its inabilityto handle complex situations orits knack to make a hash out ofan issue. Press releases issued byofficial quarters are often an eye-

wash to hoodwink the public –an attempt to camouflage realitywith generalities and non-issues.At a time when the focus of theentire nation is on the questionof the president's unexpected de-parture to Dubai, the impressionbeing given by the government isthat it is business as usual. So wewere told that at a meeting co-chaired by Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gilani and BilawalBhutto on Wednesday at the PMhouse where Bilawal and manyPPP stalwarts looked lost andvisibly unnerved, the question ofcreation of a Seraiki Provincewas discussed!

While going abroad for anormal medical checkup hasbeen a routine matter for Pak-istani political leaders, it is thetiming of President Zardari's de-parture that has led to a tsunamiof speculations and rumours.Naturally against the backdropof the Supreme Court decisionon the NRO, the apex courtmoved on the memo scandal, the

impending Abbottabad Commis-sion Report on the May 2 UScommando action that killedOsama Bin Laden and stories ofPresident Zardari being undertremendous stress and pressuremake this inevitable. More so theinitial 'silence' from the presi-dency which was followed by astring of contradictory state-ments emanating from the gov-ernment and ruling party circles.Then with the likes of the ever-vociferous PPP leader BabarAwan giving veiled threats tothose contemplating violation ofArticle 6 of the constitution indi-cate that not all is well in thepower corridors. And when thishappens and in absence of anyclear-cut, credible statement onan important development thesignal sent out is that there is

something to hide. This has beena standard pattern wheneversomething important happens inthe country.

The government’s handlingof issues is clumsy and oftenmarked by denial, ambiguity,conflicting statements and half-truths. It is about time the gov-ernment and the PPP recognisethat there is a cost attached toloose-talking, perhaps morethan the cost attached to loosedeliveries in a cricket match!Does the government suffer onlyfrom lack of coordination orfrom self-destructive and self-defeating incompetence?

The writer is a seniorjournalist and has been adiplomatic correspondent forleading dailies. She was an Al-fred Friendly Press Fellow atThe Chicago Tribune in the USand a Press Fellow at WolfsonCollege, Cambridge, UK. Shecan be reached via email atqudssia@hotmail.com

when the president is away, the rumourmongers will play

Confusion, yet again

Cross CurrentsBy Qudssia Akhlaque

It might not be out of placeto suggest that the unpro-voked attacks on our border

posts by NATO gunships areamongst several symptoms ofthe broader disconnect betweenPakistani and American per-spectives on the Afghanendgame. The equation is ren-dered more complicated by theexistence of a subterranean dis-connect between the US mili-tary high command and thecivilian authorities. ReportedlyAmbassador Munter’s proposalfor a formal apology by Presi-dent Obama, backed by theState Department, was over-ruled by the Pentagon forcingthe President’s hand who is un-derstandably averse to beingexposed to charges of appease-ment in an election year.

Reports to the effect thatthe generals in Washington re-main convinced of the feasibil-ity of military resolution of theAfghan conflict continue to sur-face. The seeming contradic-tions in Hillary Clinton’s publicstatements reflect this di-chotomy. During the past fewmonths, her pronouncementshave attempted to cater to thehard line outlook of the mili-tary and the more conciliatoryapproach of the diplomats.Some regional specialists, in-cluding former State Depart-ment official Vali Nasr, haveanalysed the attacks in the con-text of the military trying toshape the Administration’sagenda in Afghanistan. Nasrhas depicted the situation asthe proverbial tail wagging thedog. We need to remain alive tothis possibility in fashioningour long-term response to theMohmand catastrophe.

It is essential that we shouldnot allow anger to determine

our perspective on our futureinteraction with the interna-tional community So far our re-sponse has been proportionateto the recent provocations,Mohmand being the latest. Thedecision to suspend NATO ship-ments, vacation of the ShamsiAirbase, retaliation in self-de-fence and boycott of the BonnConference are unexceptionablegiven the growing intensity ofthe provocations, starting withthe Raymond Davis affair. Forthe first time since 9/11 Pak-istan has injected some balancein what was largely seen as anunequal if not a one-sided part-nership in a loosely definedcause. How are we going to pro-ceed from here?

Those propagating that theissue be formally tabled beforethe Security Council are clearlyunfamiliar with its operationalmechanics. examples abound ofhow the Council abdicated itsresponsibilities even in in-stances of outright aggression.Two cases would suffice: the So-viet invasion of Afghanistan andthe US-led occupation of Iraq.In both instances, the SecretaryGeneral of the UN had declaredthese actions illegal yet the Se-curity Council did nothing be-cause the offending stateswielded veto powers. The attackon the Mohmand posts, clearlyunwarranted, would run againstthree vetoes, US, UK andFrance. In fact, the initiativewould most likely be killed inthe informal consultative stagewhich precedes formal debate inthe Council. What will Pakistangain from this? The dissemina-tion of our concerns to all UNmembers as a Security Councildocument was practical and fea-sible. Going beyond that wouldbe counter-productive.

Some quarters have sug-gested that Pakistan should nothave boycotted the Bonn con-ference. Again, it must be re-membered that suchhigh-profile and propaganda-laden events are not an effectivemeans of resolving complex in-ternational issues. In fact, theDeclarations adopted at thesemoots are agreed to in advanceand no real negotiations occurduring the event itself. Our par-ticipation would have beenlargely symbolic and in any case

our views on the recent eventsare widely known. Their articu-lation at the Conference wouldnot have yielded any additionalimpact. The message that ourabsence conveyed would be farmore pertinent in driving homethe point that Pakistan is nolonger willing to be taken forgranted.

The key point now is howPakistan uses its current posi-tion in exploring a balancedand durable solution to theconflict in Afghanistan. Pak-istan and the US now need toengage in a sustained diplo-matic process to ensure con-ceptual clarity on key aspects ofthe Afghan end game. This en-gagement should first agree onthe minimum precept that mil-itary solution is no longer fea-sible and that at someapproximate future date, onthe realization of certain condi-tions i.e. Taliban agreement tojoin the peace process in rightearnest, hostilities from bothsides will have to cease. Thisshould be followed by under-standings on the character andcomposition of the futureAfghan government, the ques-tion of continued US militarypresence in Afghanistan post2014 and the level and quan-tum of Indian involvement inAfghan security beyond thatdate, amongst others.

Both countries would needto approach these vexing issueswith an open mind. Pakistanwould need to appreciate thatthe US has legitimate strategicand economic interests in thisregion while the latter must tryto understand that whateverhappens in Afghanistan has adirect and immediate bearingon our security and stability. Amiddle ground would need to belocated which enables enmesh-ing of the legitimate concerns ofboth parties and their respectiveAfghan allies.

These understandingsshould then be moved outwardsto elicit the support of other re-gional states and the wider com-munity of nations.

The writer is Pakistan’s for-mer Ambassador to the UnitedNations and European Union.He can be contacted at shauka-tumer@hotmail.com

By Shaukat Umer

what next?

The Mohmand tragedy

while there may be other politicalreasons for the sensational commentson President Zardari's ostensiblysudden departure, the Government ofPakistan and the ruling PPP themselveshave to take the primary blame forgenerating a plethora of speculations.

LHR 09-12-2011_Layout 1 12/9/2011 1:53 AM Page 13

Friday, 9 December, 2011

14 Foreign News

NATO, Russia fail to defusemissile defence row

BRUSSELS/MOSCOWAFP

NATO and Russia failed toresolve a rift over a euro-pean missile shield onThursday but agreed topress on with negotiations

aimed at reaching a cooperation deal.“On missile defence, we do not

agree yet,” NATO Secretary GeneralAnders Fogh Rasmussen said aftertalks between foreign ministers of themilitary alliance and Russian counter-part Sergei Lavrov. “But we all agreedthat it is important to keep on trying,to keep on talking, and to keep on lis-tening to each other’s concerns,” hetold a news conference.

Seeking to assuage Russian con-cerns after Moscow threatened to de-ploy missiles near eU borders,Rasmussen reiterated that NATO allies“do not consider Russia an enemy”.

NATO renewed its invitation to co-

operate with Russia on the defence sys-tems “so that they can see with theirown eyes that it’s not directed againstRussia,” he added. Moscow wantsNATO to provide a legally-binding doc-ument stating that the missile system isnot pointed at Russia, but the transat-lantic alliance says it has made enoughstatements to that effect.

“We want to have clear guaranteesthat the missile defence capabilities willnot be targeted against our strategic ca-pability,” Lavrov told a news confer-ence after the talks. Moscow alsosuggests that both sides operate a jointmissile shield, but NATO insists onkeeping two separate systems with theformer Cold War foes sharing data.

Meanwhile, Prime MinisterVladimir Putin on Thursday accused theUnited States of stirring up controversyover Russia’s polls and warned thoseprotesting the result they would be pun-ished if they broke the law.

After three days of protests against

election results the opposition sayswere rigged, Putin said the authoritiesshould enter into dialogue with the op-position. But he accused some of itsleaders of acting selfishly.

“If somebody breaks the law thenthe security forces must implement thelaw with full legal means,” Putin said inhis first public comments on thedemonstrations. Russia’s oppositionhas vowed to stage a mass protest inMoscow at the weekend to contest theresults of elections, despite the arrest ofaround 1,000 people in previousdemonstrations. Putin said that “if peo-ple act in accordance with the law, theyshould be given the opportunity to ex-press themselves, and we should notlimit these civil rights.”

But he lashed out at US Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton, who he said hadcriticised Sunday’s elections before evenreading the reports of internationalmonitors. The US criticism “had set thetone for some people inside the country

and given a signal,” Putin said.“They heard the signal and with the

support of the US State Departmentstarted active work. By apparent coinci-dence, Putin’s comments came on the20th anniversary of the signing of theBelovezh accords when the leaders Rus-sia, Belarus, and Ukraine decided onDecember 8, 1991 that the USSR nolonger existed as a state.

In the run-up to the election, Putinhad already accused the West of fund-ing Russian NGOs with the aim of ques-tioning the validity of the elections.Putin also said there should be dialoguebetween the regime and the opposition.

Around 1,000 people have been ar-rested in three days of demonstrationsprotesting what they say was massfraud in Sunday’s polls. Over 20,000people have pledged on a Facebookpage called “for honest elections” to at-tend the protest on Saturday afternoonon Revolution Square, just metres fromthe Kremlin walls.

WASHINGTONAFP

Republican US presidential candidateshave redoubled their public calls for“covert” operations against Iran andSyria, including sabotage, assassinationand aid to opposition forces.

Former House speaker Newt Gin-grich, who has led the calls for secretwar, told a gathering of party activistson Wednesday he would use “covert ca-pability” to bring about “regime re-placement” in Tehran.

“They only have one very, very largerefinery. I would be focused on how tocovertly sabotage it every day,” he toldthe Republican Jewish Coalition, agroup highly critical of President BarackObama’s handling of ties to Israel.

Gingrich said US policy towardsSyria must be to “replace” PresidentBashar al-Assad and “do everything we

can, indirectly and covertly — but with-out American forces — to help” the op-position topple his government.

Former Massachusetts governorMitt Romney, who recently lost to Gin-grich the mantle of front-runner for theparty’s nomination to take on Obama inNovember 2012, called for Washingtonto secretly help dissidents in Iran.

“We should also have covert andovert activities to encourage voices ofdissent within the country. Ultimatelyregime change is what’s going to be nec-essary in that setting,” he told thegroup.

One of their long-shot rivals, formersenator Rick Santorum, told the sameaudience he hoped US assets were be-hind a recent deadly explosion at a mis-sile base in Iran and vowed to put theworld on notice of secret US operations.

“We need to say very clearly that wewill be conducting covert activity to do

everything we can to stop their nuclearprogram. And that means using covertactivity like may have occurred at themissile site,” he said.

“We need to be very clear: Any for-eign scientists working in Iran on thisnuclear program will be termed anenemy combatant and will be subject —like any other enemy combatant, likeOsama bin Laden — to being taken outby the United States government as athreat to this country,” he said.

Gingrich proposed at a November12 debate that Washington kill Iranianscientists and disrupt Tehran’s suspectnuclear program — “all of it covertly, allof it deniable.”

In that same forum, Santorum saidthe United States must do “whatever ittakes to make sure” Iran does not de-velop a nuclear program — then won-dered whether Washington may alreadybe heavily involved in doing just that.

“There have been scientists turningup dead in Russia and in Iran. Therehave been computer viruses. There havebeen problems at their facility. I hopethat the United States has been involvedwith that,” he said.

“I hope that we have been doingeverything we can, covertly, to makesure that that program doesn’t pro-ceed,” he said.

The pronouncements of the Repub-lican presidential hopefuls have raisedeyebrows among some career nationalsecurity officials.

“The chances of success go downdramatically when you tell the worldthat is the major tool in your foreignpolicy bag of tricks,” one former seniorofficial in Republican president GeorgeW. Bush’s White House said.

The official said Bush’s team “tooka lot of heat for keeping secrets.”

‘No second chance’

if euro summit

fails: SarkozyMARSEILLE

AFP

French President Nicolas Sarkozy warnedThursday that europe was facing an un-precedented risk from its debt woes andsaid a crucial eU summit was the lastchance to solve the crisis.“Never has eu-rope been so necessary and never has itbeen in so much danger... Never has therisk of europe’s explosion been so great,”Sarkozy said in a speech in Marseille aheadof the summit’s start later Thursday.“We must act straight away. The longer wewait to take this decision, the more it willcost and the less effective it will be,” hetold a meeting of european conservativeparties. “If we don’t have an agreement onFriday, we will not have a second chance,”Sarkozy said. France and Germany wereworking Thursday to drum up support fortheir plan to save the eurozone, whichwould amend eU treaties to include legalor constitutional limits on deficits and au-tomatic penalties for eurozone nations thatoverspend. Sarkozy warned that if all 27members of the european Union were notwilling to sign up to treaty changes, the 17states of the eurozone could go ahead ontheir own. eurozone leaders have said non-euro countries could be excluded from thenew agreement if they make too many de-mands during the summit, such asBritain’s call for it to receive “safeguards”for its financial services industry.

US denies seeking

to ‘contain’ ChinaBEIJING/ SHANGHAI

AFP

Moves by Washington to strengthen mili-tary ties in the Pacific are not aimed atcontaining China, a senior US defence offi-cial said Thursday, after holding talks withher Chinese counterpart. US Under Secre-tary of Defence for Policy Michele Flournoysaid she had sought to assure China’s MaXiaotian over moves including the deploy-ment of US Marines in Australia.“We assured General Ma and his delega-tion that the US does not seek to containChina, we do not view China as an adver-sary, but these posture changes were firstand foremost about strengthening our al-liance with Australia,” she told reporters inBeijing. Wednesday’s talks marked the firsthigh-level meeting of US and Chinese de-fence officials since Washington angeredBeijing in September by announcing anarms deal with Taiwan.HuNDREDS STRIKE IN LATESTCHINA LAbOuR PROTEST: Hundredsof workers protested for a fifth straight dayon Thursday at a Japanese plant in south-ern China, a company official said, in thelatest labour unrest in the country’s manu-facturing hub. Nearly 1,000 workers havedowned tools since Sunday at disk drivemaker Hailiang Storage Products Co,blocking the entrance and accusing bossesof “bullying” Chinese workers, state mediaand a rights group said.

egypt’s army,

islamists clash

over constitutionCAIRO

AFP

egypt’s biggest political group the MuslimBrotherhood clashed with the country’sarmy leaders on Thursday, accusing themof trying to “marginalise” parliament overthe writing of a new constitution.Mohammed el-Baltagui, one of the leadersof the Brotherhood’s political party, said themovement planned to pull out of a contactgroup with the army leaders who have beenin power since the toppling of HosniMubarak in February. “We consider that anyattempt to marginalise the parliament or toreduce its prerogatives in favour of any otherunelected entity is a move to bypass the willof the people,” he said. On Wednesday, incomments to a small group of foreign jour-nalists, a member of the ruling junta said thearmy would have a final say over those ap-pointed to write a new constitution nextyear. “This is the first stage in our democ-racy,” Major General Mukhtar al-Mulla wasquoted as saying by The Guardian newspa-per. “This is not out of mistrust of the parlia-ment,” he added. The Brotherhood, whichemerged as the biggest winner in the firststage of the just-concluded parliamentaryelections, wants the assembly to oversee theconstitution writing process. Analysts hadforecast a fierce power struggle between thenew civilian political powers that haveemerged since the fall of Mubarak and theruling army generals.

letter bomb to

Deutsche Bank CeO

‘operational’FRANKFURT

AFP

A letter bomb sent to Deutsche Bank chiefJosef Ackermann was ‘operational’ andcould have exploded, German state policesaid Thursday after the envelope was inter-cepted. “Preliminary investigations show itis an operational letter bomb,” police inHesse, the western state where DeutscheBank’s Frankfurt headquarters is located,said in a statement. The envelope ad-dressed to the Swiss-born Ackermann,CeO of Germany’s biggest bank, arrived atDeutsche Bank’s mailroom on Wednesday.The letter had raised suspicion at the mail-room and was x-rayed, after which the po-lice were alerted, the statement said.“Local police, working together with spe-cialists from the Hesse state crime office,defused the explosive,” it said.

g Putin harks back to Cold war 20 years on, denounces US, warns protesters g Defiant Russian opposition vows mass protest

US Republicans urge covert ops against Iran, Syria

NAMie: Japan's Self Defense Force soldiers collect fallen leaves from a gutter as they started a decontamination mission west of the

stricken nuclear power plant on Thursday. Hundreds of troops cleaned up local government offices to prepare operational

bases for full-fledged cleanup which will start next year. AFP

LHR 09-12-2011_Layout 1 12/9/2011 1:53 AM Page 14

Foreign News 15Friday, 9 December, 2011

DAMASCUS/ NICOSIAAFP

SYRIAN activists onThursday launched acampaign of civil dis-obedience to pile pres-sure on President

Bashar al-Assad, after he drew astinging rebuke from the US fordenying he ordered a deadlycrackdown. Local human rightsgroups said more than 100 peo-ple have been killed in Syria sincethe weekend, and the UN esti-mates at least 4,000 have diedsince March when anti-regimeprotests erupted.

But in a rare interview withWestern media, President Assadquestioned the UN toll and de-nied ordering the killing of pro-testers, saying only a “crazyperson” would do so.

Washington said Assad’s re-marks showed he was discon-nected from reality or himself“crazy,” as he comes undermounting global pressure, withArab nations and Turkey joiningthe West in pursuing sanctionsagainst his regime.

Despite the rhetoric, theLocal Coordination Committeesactivist network reported onThursday that Assad’s forcesused bombs and “heavy and in-discriminate gunfire” in Dam-ascus and northwestern Idlibprovince. The LCC, which or-ganises anti-regime protests onthe ground in Syria, appealedfor citizens to mobilise for a“dignity strike ... which willlead to the sudden death of thistyrant regime.”

The campaign would “snow-ball... and grow each day of the

revolution to reach every homeand anyone who wants to live de-lighted and dignified in his/hercountry,” said an LCC statementreceived in Nicosia.

It urged citizens to begin theaction on Sunday — the first day

of the working week in Syria —starting with sit-ins at work, andthe closure of shops and universi-ties, before the shutdown of trans-portation networks and a generalpublic sector strike.

“The Syrian revolution is... a

renaissance against slavery; ascream at the face of humiliationstarted from the first day asdemonstrators cried ‘Syrians arenot to be humiliated.’

“The echo of this scream willnot vanish till it reaches all ears,”

read the statement, adding thestrike was “the first step in an over-all civil disobedience” campaignwhich will overthrow the regime.

Meanwhile, Syrian securityforces on Thursday killed at leastseven civilians including a woman

in an assault on the restive centralcity of Homs, activists said.

The deaths occurred as the se-curity forces used sniper fire and“arbitrary” shelling during raidson three districts of the city, theBritain-based Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights said.

Meanwhile, armed “terror-ists” have blown up an oil pipelinewest of the flashpoint Syrian cityof Homs, which transports crudeioil to the (central) city’s refineryfrom east Syria, the official SANAnews agency reported on Thurs-day. “An armed terrorist grouptargeted in a sabotage operationthe pipeline of Tal al-Shor, west ofHoms,” Syria’s third-largest city,SANA said.

It gave no cause for the blast.The explosion is the third re-

ported attack on energy infra-structure since the outbreak of anunprecedented protest movementagainst the regime of PresidentBashar al-Assad in mid-March.

Moreover, Iraq will hold talkswith Syria to implement an ArabLeague initiative to send ob-servers to monitor the country’sunrest, the group’s chief andBaghdad’s foreign minister saidon Thursday.

Arab League ministers willmeet this weekend to mull a re-sponse to Syria which wants thebloc to lift sanctions as its price toallow observers to monitor deadlyunrest, an Arab diplomat saidThursday.

A taskforce chaired by QatariPrime Minister Sheikh Hamadbin Jassem Al-Thani and com-prising the foreign ministers ofAlgeria, egypt, Oman and Sudanwill gather in Doha with ArabLeague chief Nabil al-Arabi.

Syrians to launch civil disobedience campaigng ‘Terrorists’ blow up Syrian oil pipeline g Regime forces kill seven in Homs g Arab taskforce on Syria to meet Saturday

HOMS: Demonstrators protesting against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad’s recent comments march through the streets on Thursday.. ReUTeRS

yemenis protestagainst regime loyalistsin new cabinet

SANAAAFP

Tens of thousands of Yemenis marchedin the streets of the Yemeni capital onThursday, chanting “no partnershipwith murderers,” in reference to formerregime loyalists that have been ap-pointed to the newly formed unity gov-ernment. Yemen’s Prime-Ministerdesignate Mohammed Basindawa an-nounced the new government Wednes-day, with half the cabinet postsentrusted to members of President AliAbdullah Saleh’s ruling party, and theother half to the opposition.“Basindawa, they cannot be trusted,”chanted the protesters as they marchedthrough the streets of Sanaa, wholeswaths of which have been devastatedby months of fighting between anti-gov-ernment and pro-Saleh forces. “Nopartnership with the murderers,” theyyelled. The protesters, thousands ofwhom camped out in Change Square —the epicentre of the pro-democracymovement that has rocked the countrysince January — have endured thebrunt of a brutal government crack-down on dissent. The protesters, mostof them youth activists, have also ex-pressed dismay with the formal opposi-tion for signing the Gulf CooperationCouncil plan which promises Saleh im-munity from prosecution for allegedcrimes committed against Yemenissince the uprising. The new governmentwill be formally sworn in on Saturday,according to a statement from the offi-cial news agency SABA, and will carryout its duties for a period of threemonths, after which early elections willbe held and Vice President AbdrabuhMansur Hadi is expected to take overthe presidency. Until then, Saleh re-mains honorary president, and mostunits are still under the command ofSaleh’s sons and nephews.

DURBANREUTERS

The United States denied on Thurs-day it was trying to delay a new globalclimate deal until 2020, saying it sup-ported an eU proposal that aims tochart a path to a more ambitious pactto fight climate change.

Delegates from almost 200 coun-tries have until Friday to decidewhether to commit to signing up toan internationally binding climatedeal by 2015 at the latest.

Some countries and pressuregroups say the United States is tryingto delay the start of a legally bindingdeal until after 2020, because of deepsplits between Democrats and Re-publicans in the US Congress and be-cause environmental curbs are seenas a vote loser ahead of US presiden-tial elections next year.

“It is completely off base to sug-gest the US is proposing it will delayaction to 2020,” US climate envoyTodd Stern told reporters.

“The eU has called for aroadmap (to a future deal). We sup-port that,” he said.

The european Union is pushingto complete talks for a global dealthat would bind all major pollutersto cut emissions by 2015. But evenif that were agreed, such a pactwould likely only come into forcefive years later.

The United States said earlierthis week it supported a discussionthat would lead to an emission cutdeal, even one that was legally bind-ing, but would not commit itself toset dates or a set outcome.

The two biggest issues for nego-tiators in Durban are finding a wayof updating the Kyoto Protocol, theonly global pact that enforces car-bon cuts, and finding the necessarycash to help poor countries tackleclimate change.

China, the United States andIndia, the world’s top three carbonemitters, are not bound by Kyoto’semissions targets.

TEHRANAFP

The establishment by the UnitedStates of an Internet-based ‘virtualembassy’ for Iranians is an admis-sion it should not have cut ties withthe Islamic republic, the foreign min-istry said Thursday.

The initiative will also fail in its in-tended aim of bringing Washington’smessage to the Iranian people, ministryspokesman Ramin Mehmanparast saidin a statement published on the state

television website.The establishment of the “virtual

embassy” amounts to “an admission bythe US government that it made a bigmistake in cutting ties (with Iran) andturning its back on the Iranian nation,”the statement said.

The United States opened the Inter-net-only “embassy” on Tuesday, sayingit wanted to reach out to Iranians de-spite the absence of official ties, andvowed to break through the Islamicregime’s “electronic curtain.”

Access to the website was blocked

in Iran hours after its launch, and in-stead showed a message in Farsi say-ing: “In accordance with computercrime laws, access to this website isnot possible.”

Mehmanparast said in the state-ment the US government would do bet-ter to “seek to alter its approach andattitude” towards Iran “in an honestmanner.”

The message Iranians have receivedfrom the US in the past three decades,he said, was “sanctions, support for(anti-Iran) terrorist groups, all-out but

unsuccessful confrontation with Iran’stechnological development, and spread-ing baseless accusations against Iran.”

The “virtual embassy” website of-fers US policy statements in englishand Farsi, gives information on USvisas, and provides news from the US-funded Voice of America.

In a welcome video message on thewebsite, Secretary of State Hillary Clin-ton voiced hope that the platform wouldprovide a way for Americans and Irani-ans to communicate “openly and with-out fear.”

Virtual embassy an admission of error by US: Iran

US denies delayingglobal climate deal

Eilat bombing mastermind killed in Gaza strike: IsraelGAZA: An Israeli air strike on a car killed at least two Hamas militants andwounded two others on a crowded Gaza street on Thursday, the Israeli army andlocal medical officials said, proclaiming that one of them had planned a deadlybombing in eilat in 2007. Hamas radio identified the dead as brothers essamAl-Batsh and Sobhi Al-Batsh, from the Hamas armed wing. Hundreds of Pales-tinians crowded around the charred remains of the car, which was hit in theearly afternoon on a main urban thoroughfare. In Tel Aviv, an Israeli militaryspokeswoman confirmed an air strike had been carried out. She said the twomen killed in the incident had been planning an attack on Israeli civilians andsoldiers along Israel’s border with egypt’s Sinai peninsula. REUTERS

LHR 09-12-2011_Layout 1 12/9/2011 1:53 AM Page 15

MUMBAI: A recent Priyanka Chopra-AmitabhBachchan incident in Twitter have taught alesson to all the Bollywood starswho are very much used totweeting. RecentlyAmitabh Bachchanrebukes PriyankaChopra for using theword ‘F’. Priyankadidn’t use the wordherself, she re-tweeted SingerRihanna’s tweet thatwas “F*** ilooklike

ho? i look like yes and ya look like no”. So,Priyanka tweets “RT @rihanna F*** i look likeho? i look like yes and ya look like no”. After

reading Priyanka’s tweet, Big B writes“@priyankachopra Arre, retweet bhi

padha jaata hai ..mujhse poocho,main bhugat chuka hoon !! But chill.. love to you and take care!”.

Priyanka immediately apologisedto Amitabh: “pheeeewwww! Oksir! Sabak seekh liya.. Bhaadmein jaaye Rihanna aur uske

tweets! love u 2 andhave a good day

@SrBachchan”.AGENCIES

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

APakistani court Thursdayrejected a lawyer’s petitionasking it to direct authori-ties to file charges of ob-scenity and sedition

against actor Veena Malik and confiscateher passport over a controversy aroundher nude pictures in an Indian maga-zine. Salimullah Khan had filed the peti-tion against Malik in the Islamabad HighCourt. He contended that she should betried under provisions of the PakistanPenal Code for obscene acts, sedition,defamation and wearing clothes andusing equipment used by Pakistani mil-itary personnel. Rejecting his petition,the court said it could not take any ac-tion as the photos had been published in

another country. Khan had earlier toldthe court that Malik did a naked photoshoot for FHM India magazine. Thenude picture was printed on the cover ofthe magazine and other photos were fea-tured on the e-edition of FHM India, hesaid. Malik has denied doing a nudephoto shoot for the magazine, saying thepictures were “morphed”. The actor andthe magazine have threatened to takelegal action against each other. Khan con-tended in his petition that Malik`s con-duct was “controversial and shameful foreverybody in Pakistan” and that she hadtrampled “all standards of Islamic cul-tures and morality”. He asked the courtto order Malik to come back to Pakistan,and to direct authorities to confiscateher passport. Malik’s passport is “stateproperty” and the government couldconfiscate it under the law, he claimed.

16 Friday, 9 December, 2011

No space in Mumbai

IN LIMELIGHT

Shahid-Priyanka qawwali

Amitabh

tweets to shoot

BlACKPOOl: The finishing touches are put to a wax figure

of lady gaga wearing a dress made from cling film designed

by Adnan Bayatt in a Christmas grotto at Madame Tussauds.

MArrAkEch:

Lea Drucker arrives

at the 11th Marrakech

International

Film Festival.

MUMBAi: Abhishek

Bachchan poses

with his pair of

customised Salvatore

Ferragamo shoes.

Pakistani lawyer’s

petition

against

Veena rejected

Jeetendra all praises for Ali Zafar NEW DELHI

AGENCIES

Who knew that amongst the cur-rent lot of actors, Jeetendrawould like Ali Zafar the most? Asource present at a recent eventsays, “The two actors were pres-ent at an event. Suddenly whilechatting with him, the senioractor pulled the young man’scheeks and told him that he re-ally likes the way he works. It wasan affectionate gesture which leftAli moved. But what he foundmore touching was when Jeetuadded that he had liked the Pak-istani actor in ‘Tere Bin Laden’and ‘Mere Brother ki Dulhan’and feels that Zafar has the po-tential in him to make it big.” Wewonder what Jeetu’s son TussharKapoor has to say about that.

MUMBAI: Director Kunal Kohli needed ample space to put up a set for the next scheduleof his film, but he couldn`t find it here so had to scurry to Madh island to build his set. “ineeded to create pre-partition Punjab in 1910 and couldn’t shoot in actual Punjab becausethe topography has changed completely. So we decided to put up a vast set. But none ofthe studios in Mumbai had space! So my art director Munish Sappal, who is a Punjabexpert after ‘Pinjar’ and ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’, finally built it on Madh island,” said Kohli,who had earlier directed ‘Hum Tum’ and ‘Fanaa’. On the set, choreographer Chinni Prakashis set to shoot a qawwaliwhere Shahid Kapoor andPriyanaka Chopra will battleit out over that thing calledlove. “The qawwali, writtenby Prasoon Joshi andcomposed by Sajid-wajid, isa hell-raiser. Both Shahidand Priyanka, thoughthorough professionals, areapparently bracingthemselves for doing an‘Aashiqana qawwali’ in fullpublic view, replete withreferences to boys withroving eyes and girls makingeyes.” AGENCIES

Priyanka a lesson

LHR 09-12-2011_Layout 1 12/9/2011 1:53 AM Page 16

MUMBAI: Vivek Oberoi’sone silly mistake notonly jeopardisedhis career butalso took awaythe girl of hisdreams whileearning him thewrath of one of themost formidable Khansof Bollywood. Over theyears, Vivek repeatedlyapologised to Salman atvarious public functionsand award nights but tono avail. As of now,Vivek’s career is getting back ontrack as the actor has couple ofplum projects in his kitty. Buzz hasit that Vivek has made his mindthat he will not apologise toSalman anymore. Vivek hosted apress conference in 2003 wherehe accused Salman of allegedmessages and harassmentover his then girlfriend,Aishwarya Rai. ZEENEwS

MUMBAI: if rumours are to bebelieved, Aishwarya Rai will staropposite Shah Rukh Khan inSanjay leela Bhansali’s next.Ash is keen to get back to workpost her delivery and has givenher nod to Sanjay’s film. Thefilmmaker recently went to visitAsh and her baby and alsonarrated the script. Buzz has it

that Bhansali is all set to revive hisdream project ‘Bajirao Mastani’ withAsh and SRK in the lead. initiallywhen Bhansali had announced theproject in 2003, Salman Khan andAishwarya Rai were supposed toplay the main leads but now itseems Sanjay has decided to casthis ‘Devdas’ hero. if things goaccording to plan then SRK-Aishwarya would be seen togetheron screen almost after a decade.Their last film was ‘Devdas’.Apparently, Bhansali has alreadyspoken to Shah Rukh Khan aboutthe project, and the superstar hasshown keen interest. ZEENEwS

17

‘Mastani’ Aishwarya Vivek won’t

DUBAi: Anil Kapoor, director Brad

Bird, Tom Cruise, actress Paula

Patton and actor Simon Pegg arrive

at the opening ceremony of the

Dubai international Film Festival

where their film ‘Mission: impossible

- ghost Protocol’ will premiere.

TOKyO: google vice president

Bradley Horowitz smiles with

Japanese all-girl pop group

AKB48 members Atsuko Maeda,

Mariko Shinoda and Aki Takajo

as they announce plans to

expand their reach to the greater

Asian market via google+.

MUMBAi: Salman Khan

poses next to an Audio Q7

german luxury car gifted for

the success of ‘Bodyguard’.

Cleric bans women

from touching bananas, cucumbersNEW DELHI: An unnamed Islamic cleric basedin europe has issued a ban on women touchingfruits and vegetables resembling the male sexualorgan to avoid “sexual thoughts”. The egyptiannews website Bikya Masr on Wednesday quoted thecleric whose diktat featured in an article on el-Senousa, a religious publication. The cleric has saidthat women should not even get close to bananasor cucumbers. “If women wish to eat these fooditems, a third party, preferably a male related tothem such as their a father or husband, should cutthe items into small pieces and serve,” the clericdictated. According to the cleric, bananas andcucumbers “resemble the male organ” andtherefore could arouse women or “make them thinkof sex”. The cleric also added carrots and zucchinito the list of forbidden foods for women. The newsabout this latest diktat against women went viralon the web with liberal Muslims feeling enragedand embarrassed. Repression of women in ultra-conservative Islamic societies has been an intensesubject of debate throughout the world. AGENCIES

HyDERABADAGENCIES

CONTROVeRSIeS continue to dog‘The Dirty Picture’ with a city courtdirecting police to book actressVidya Balan for posing for indecentphotographs on the film posters

and promos. Nampally criminal courts orderedthe Nallakunta police station in the city to booka criminal case against the Bollywood star. Thecourt passed the orders on a petition filed by anadvocate SK Azad. The judge asked police tobook the actress under relevant sections of In-dian Penal Code and also under Indecent Repre-sentation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.Police was also asked to take action against pub-lic display of posters and promotional advertise-ments of the controversial movie. The petitionersaid the posters and hoardings of the film werespoiling the minds of the people and causingharm to the society. There have been protests byanti-obscenity activists in parts of Hyderabadand other towns in the state during last two days.

Court asks police to bookVidya Balan for obscenity

LOS ANGELESAGENCIES

A poll conducted by Forbes magazinedeclared that Kristen Stewart andRobert Pattinson are two of the mostbankable actors in Hollywood.Forbes.com posted a ranking of Holly-wood movie stars on Tuesday, whoearned the studios the most money com-pared with amounts they are paid. Thetop actors, perhaps not surprisingly,starred in major Hollywood flicks thatearned hundreds of millions at box of-fices. Stewart ranked no 1 on the list ofHollywood’s Best Actors for the Buck.Pattinson was no 3. Remove the pairfrom a blockbuster franchise like ‘Twi-light’, and the financial picture changesdramatically, which is why Pattinson’saverage is lower than Stewart’s. Accord-ing to the magazine, Pattinson scoredlower because he has been busier, work-ing on dramas like ‘Water for elephants’and ‘Remember Me’ which did not dovery well at the box offices. Stewart, 21,had only one big flop, ‘The Runaways,’between her most recent ‘Twilight’flicks. Ranked between the two ‘Twi-light’ lovers was actress Anne Hathaway.‘Harry Potter’ star Daniel Radcliffewas no 4 and ‘Transformers’ leadingman Shia LaBeouf rounded out the top 5.

Tom Cruise undisputed star of dubai film festival

DUBAIAGENCIES

Actor Tom Cruise was the undisputed staron the red carpet at the opening of theDubai Film Festival, sharing the limelightwith Bollywood stars and the widow of latePalestinian president Yasser Arafat. Cruiseattended the screening of his latest release,‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol’, whichwas filmed in Dubai and includes a dra-matic scene where the US actor climbs thesides of the world’s tallest building, Burj

Khalifa, which stands 828 metres high.Dozens of adoring fans stormed the red car-pet on Cruise’s arrival at the opening eventWednesday night with Dubai’s ruler SheikhMohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, tryingto catch a glimpse of the world famous star.The film, the fourth in a series, was partlyfinanced by Dubai, which is working to es-tablish itself as global destination for filmproduction. Also on the red carpet wasArafat’s widow Suha, who is to introduce adocumentary film on the late Palestinianleader, ‘The Price of Kings: Yasser Arafat’.

Kristen, Robert ‘most bankable’ in Hollywood

‘Bajirao’ Shah Rukhto romance

I confide

says Ranveerin Anushka,

MUMBAI: while he may be playing a ladies’ man in his upcoming film, actor RanveerSingh maintains that he is just the opposite in real life. For starters, the Mumbai laddenies that he is in a relationship with his co-star Anushka Sharma and insists they arejust “good friends”. “She is my senior and she taught me how to be spontaneous andchill out. i confide in her and talk to her about every single thing. Now that i know herwell enough as an actor, i can read even the smallest thing on her face and tell whatshe’s going to say next,” says Ranveer. And though there is much speculation aboutRanveer’s relationship withhis ‘lootera’ co-starSonakshi Sinha, hedismisses the reports asmere gossip. “So far, i haveonly met Sonakshi on a fewoccasions - for a photoshoot, at an awards functionand for the promotion of ournew film ‘lootera’. During allthose meetings, i found herto be very cool and calm.we complement each others’attitudes - i am hyper andhave this neurotic energy, andshe is cool as a cucumber,”he says. AGENCIES

apologiseto Salman again

LHR 09-12-2011_Layout 1 12/9/2011 1:53 AM Page 17

Page 23

Friday, 9 December, 2011

Rooney three-matchban reduced to two

CHITTAGONGAFP

PAKISTAN will begin their firstTest series in Bangladesh foralmost a decade in Chittagongon Friday determined to ex-tend their 100 percent win-

ning record against the hosts. The tourists,who beat Sri Lanka in all formats of thegame in the United Arab emirates last

month, have already asserted their su-premacy over Bangladesh by making a 3-0clean sweep of the one-day series.

Pakistan played their lone Test seriesin Bangladesh in January 2002, winningboth matches in Dhaka and Chittagong byan innings under the captaincy of WaqarYounis. Pakistan have won all of their sixTests against Bangladesh since 2001, theclosest match being in Multan in 2003when they triumphed by one wicket follow-

ing Inzamam-ul-Haq’s match-winning un-beaten century. The tourists, now led by re-liable batsman Misbah-ul-Haq, were notseriously tested in the one-dayers againstthe hosts after putting in impressive per-formances with both bat and ball.

But senior Pakistani batsman YounisKhan said Thursday he expected a toughfight from Bangladesh in the Tests.

“When we play Tests we expect a Test-level competition,” he said. “They struggled

in the limited-overs matches, but Testcricket is a different ball game. “If they stickto their goals, they will give us tough com-petition. It will not be easy for us sinceBangladesh are playing in home condi-tions.” Bangladesh strengthened their brit-tle batting by including former captain andmiddle-order batsman Mohammad Ashra-ful in the 15-man squad.

Ashraful, with 2,418 runs in 56 Tests,will look to justify his recall after beingdropped for the home series against theWest Indies in October-November. “Dur-ing the one-dayers, our fielders andbowlers did a good job, so it’s time our bats-men put up a good performance,” saidBangladesh’s top-order batsman ShahriarNafees. “The focus now is on the Test se-ries. We want to come back strongly andplay our best cricket.”

Bangladesh will rely on their spin at-tack led by Shakib Al Hasan and eliasSunny to keep pressure on the Pakistanibatting line-up at the traditionally spin-friendly venue in Chittagong. Shakib is thekey all-rounder in the side with 1,421 runsand 89 wickets in 24 Tests, while Sunnymade an impressive seven-wicket Testdebut at this venue against the West Indiestwo months ago. Bangladesh will seek toimprove their dismal run since gaining Teststatus in 2000, losing 61 of their 71matches, winning just three with sevendrawn. The second and final Test will beplayed in Dhaka from December 17.

Bangladesh (from): Mushfiqur Rahim(capt), Mohammad Mahmudullah, TamimIqbal, Shahriar Nafees, MohammadAshraful, Shakib Al Hasan, Naeem Islam,Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, NazmulHossain, elias Sunny, Shahadat Hossain,Suhrawadi Shuvo, Robiul Islam, Mo-hammed Nazimuddin. Pakistan (from):Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), MohammadHafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat,Younis Khan, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq,Shoaib Malik, Adnan Akmal, Saeed Ajmal,Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, MohammadTalha, Aizaz Cheema, Mohammad Khalil.

Pakistan gear up for BD Tests

CHiTTAgONg: Pakistani cricketer Umar gul (2nd R) plays frisbee with teammates during a training session at the Zahur AhmedChowdhury Stadium. AFP

AUCKLANDAFP

Pakistan thumped South Korea 6-2 to posttheir first win of the Champions Trophy onThursday. Pakistan came from behind tosnap a three-game losing streak at the lastmajor men's tournament before the LondonOlympics, with captain Muhammad Imranand Abdul Khan both notching a brace.

Imran proved the inspiration for a Pak-istan fightback after Lee Nam-Yong's sev-enth minute goal gave Korea the lead, withthe skipper converting a penalty corner after15 minutes to put the Green Shirts on theboard. Khan followed up with a field goalone minute later and from there Pakistanlooked assured, holding their nerve whenKorea equalised and sealing the win with afour-goal burst in the final 10 minutes.

Imran said Pakistan, making their firstappearance at the tournament since 2007,had finally put together a consistent per-formance after patchy displays in the open-ing rounds, including a 6-1 loss to defendingchampions Australia. "For the whole matchwe played very well," he said. ManagerKhawaja Junaid was pleased with the way

his team bounced back from the confidence-sapping loss to the Kookaburras. He saidthat the Green Shirts, whose early lossesmean they are out of medal contention inAuckland, still lagged behind the world's topteams but the gap was closing. "I think thatwas the turning point for our team," he said."We played with organisational structureand discipline. We made less emotional mis-takes, less (emphasis on) individual play. Ithink that's the way to improve. "It's still along way to the Olympics and, taking a real-istic approach, we know we're still behindthe top teams, but we're working hard." Thewin keeps alive Pakistan's hopes of securingfifth place in the eight-nation event, whichwould guarantee a spot at next year's com-petition in Argentina.AuSTRALIA IN CHAmPIONS TRO-PHY fINAL: Australia powered into thefinal of the Champions Trophy on Thursday,with Spain defeating New Zealand in thechampionship pool to keep alive theirchances of meeting the Australians.

The Kookaburras lived up to theirworld number one ranking, firing homethree second-half goals to defeat theNetherlands 4-2 in Pool C and earn the

right to chase a record fourth straighttitle in Sunday’s final. In Pool D, Pak-istan came from behind to thump SouthKorea 6-2. Spain edged past hosts NewZealand 3-2 to take pole position in therace to meet Australia in the final, thanksto a David Alegre goal four minutes fromtime. The victory leaves Spain in a strongposition ahead of the final round of PoolC matches, but are still likely to need awin against The Netherlands on Saturdayif they are to book their place in Sunday’sfinal. In the other Pool D match Germanyovercame Britain 2-1, thanks to a last-minute penalty conversion from captainJan-Marco Montag.ReSUlTS FROM MATCHDAy FOUR OF THe MeN'S CHAMPiONS

TROPHy FielD HOCKey TOURNAMeNT ON THURSDAy:

POOl CAustralia 4 (Ciriello 29; gohdes 50, 61; Dwyer 64) Nether-

lands 2 (Bakker 47; Verga 69), Spain 3 (Alegre R. 32; Tubau

42; Alegre D. 66) New Zealand 2 (Hayward 16; Hilton 36)

POOl DPakistan 6 (imran 15, 69; Khan 16, 61; Ahmed w. 63; Ra-

sool 63) South Korea 2 (lee N-y 7; Nam 27), germany 2

(Zwicker 4; Montag 70) great Britain 1 (Kirkham 22).

Pakistan end losing streak with Korea hammering

AUCKlAND: Shakeel Abbasi (l) of Pakistan competes with young Jin Kim (R) of South Korea. AFP

CHITTAGONGREUTERS

Batsman Younus Khan warned Bangladesh to get ready to face yet an-other onslaught from Pakistan’s feared spinning attack as the teams gotready for the two-test series that begins in Chittagong on Friday.Bangladesh struggled to put up any form of defence during the recentone-dayers, with Pakistan spinners taking all 10 wickets in the final ODIto help the visitors to a 3-0 series sweep. Younus said Bangladesh couldexpect more of the same treatment in the tests and, when askedif the hosts had any chance of stretching the contest intoa fifth day, he said: “Nobody knows, only God knowshow long they will survive. “The spinners we have at

the moment all are top grade, especially Abdur Rehman is a top per-former. “He played excellent in the last few series. He was not getting achance in the one-day side because of other spinners. But he got a chancelast match and played very well.” Mohammad Hafeez, Rehman, SaeedAjmal and Shoaib Malik sent Bangladesh into a spin during that thirdone-dayer earlier this week, with the hosts losing their last nine wicketsfor 50 runs. Younus said such performances would be a big boost forPakistan. “Another good thing is all the spinners are in good form.

Bowlers win you test matches. In this context we can say we have somematch-winning bowlers,” he said. The seamers bowled only

three overs for Pakistan in the final one-dayer as theydefended a modest 177-run total to post their 22ndconsecutive ODI win against Bangladesh.

PCB confidentover Bangladeshteam’s tour

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Cricket Board is confident thatthe security plan it presented to theBangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will con-vince them to tour the country. PCB chair-man Zaka Ashraf will meet his Bangladeshcounterpart Mustafa Kamal at the AsianCricket Council meeting in Singapore nextweek and in Bangladesh after that. If the PCBis successful, it would mark the return of in-ternational cricket to Pakistan following theattack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore inMarch 2009. Talks of a possible Bangladeshtour of Pakistan could be the result of the dealbetween the PCB and BCB in choosing thenext ICC vice-president. The nominationrests with the two countries and Pakistan isreportedly ready to concede its right for anexpected tour by Bangladesh in 2012.

Cummins toldto prioritiseTests over iPl

HOBARTAFP

Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke andpredecessor Steve Waugh Thursday urgedrising teenage pace star Pat Cummins to pri-oritise Test cricket over the lucrative IndianPremier League. Cummins, 18, who is side-lined for at least six weeks with a bone stressheel injury, wants to play in the IPL, but thereare concerns the youngster may overtax hisbody at a crucial stage of his physical devel-opment. The youngster’s manager NeilMaxwell has confirmed Cummins intends tonominate for the lucrative IPL auction aheadof next April’s tournament. But Clarke said hewants his Test players to “prioritise” repre-senting their country ahead of the IPL andChampions League tournaments. “The onething I love about IPL is that every individualhas the opportunity of making their ownchoice,” Clarke told reporters ahead of Aus-tralia’s second Test against New Zealand inHobart. “But I think a player needs to workout where his body is at and then make thatdecision at the time of going into the IPL.“There’s a lot of cricket and I just don’t wantto see players not prioritising internationalcricket. “every player who plays for Australia,that is first and foremost and Test cricketbeing the pinnacle of that. Then if your bodycan handle you playing IPL or ChampionsLeague then that’s up to the individual.”

Younus warns B’desh to get ready for spin onslaught

LHR 09-12-2011_Layout 1 12/9/2011 1:53 AM Page 18

Sports 19Friday, 9 December, 2011

INDOREAFP

V IReNDeR Sehwag smashed the highestscore in one-day cricket on Thursday asIndia flattened the West Indies by 153runs to take a decisive 3-1 lead in thefive-match series. Sehwag hammered a

scintillating 219 off 149 balls to lift India to theirbest one-day total of 418-5, before the West Indieswere bowled out for 265 in the fourth interna-tional. Debutant leg-spinner Rahul Sharma pickedup three wickets in his first three overs as thetourists were outplayed despite a defiant 96 fromwicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.

Ramdin put on 64 for the last wicket withSunil Narine (27 not out) before he was caughtin the deep attempting to score his maiden one-day century. Sehwag plundered 25 boundariesand seven sixes during his 149-ball blitz, joiningcompatriot Sachin Tendulkar as the only bats-men in history to score double-centuries in the50-over format. Sehwag moved past Tendulkar’s200 not out -- against South Africa in Gwaliorlast year -- in the 44th over when, on 197, he cutAndre Russell to the point fence.

He was finally dismissed in the 47th overwhen he was caught in the deep off Kieron Pol-lard and was clapped off the field by the entireWest Indies team and some 30,000 jubilanthome fans. Sehwag’s blistering knock helpedIndia surpass their previous highest one-daytotal of 414-7 against Sri Lanka in Rajkot in2009. It was Sehwag’s 15th three-figure knock inone-day cricket and the first since making 175against Bangladesh in the opening match of theWorld Cup in Dhaka in February this year. Se-hwag, who is captaining India in the series in theabsence of the rested Mahendra Singh Dhoni,had managed just 46 runs in the previous threematches. But he found the right conditions onthe run-laden pitch at the Holkar stadium in In-dore to strike form ahead of the Test series inAustralia starting later this month. Sehwag, who

was dropped on 170 by West Indies captain Dar-ren Sammy in the covers, put on 176 for the firstwicket with Gautam Gambhir (67) and 140 forthe second with Suresh Raina (55). Left-handerGambhir, who had scored 16 runs in the series,broke the shackles to hit 11 boundaries in hisrun-a-ball innings during the rollicking openingstand. The West Indies suffered a blow before thestart when star batsman Darren Bravo was ruledout of the must-win game due to a hamstringstrain. Bravo was replaced by Kieran Powell. Thefinal match will be played in Chennai on Sunday.

INDIA:G. Gambhir run out 67

V. Sehwag c sub (Martin) b Pollard 219

S. Raina run out 55

R. Jadeja c Rampaul b Russell 10

Rohit Sharma b Roach 27

V. Kohli not out 23

P. Patel not out 3

EXTRAS: (lb1, w13) 14

TOTAl (for five wickets, 50 overs) 418

Fall of wickets: 1-176 (Gambhir), 2-316 (Raina), 3-341 (Jadeja), 4-376

(Sehwag), 5-393 (Rohit Sharma).

BOwlING: Roach 10-0-88-1, Rampaul 9-0-66-0 (w6), Russell 7-0-63-1

(w2), Narine 6-0-46-0 (w2), Sammy 3-0-30-0 (w1), Pollard 7-0-65-1

(w2), Samuels 8-0-59-0

wEST INDIES:l. Simmons c Patel b Jadeja 36

K. Powell run out 7

M. Samuels b Rahul Sharma 33

D. Hyatt b Rahul Sharma 11

D. Ramdin c Rohit Sharma b Raina 96

K. Pollard b Rahul Sharma 3

A. Russell st Patel b Raina 29

D. Sammy c Mithun b Ashwin 2

R. Rampaul c sub (Tiwary) b Jadeja 10

K. Roach c and b Jadeja 7

S. Narine not out 27

EXTRAS: (lb2, w2) 4

TOTAl (all out, 49.2 overs) 265

Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Powell), 2-63 (Simmons), 3-81 (Samuels), 4-90

(Hyatt), 5-100 (Pollard), 6-140 (Russell), 7-145 (Sammy), 8-168

(Rampaul), 9-201 (Roach), 10-265 (Ramdin).

BOwlING: Vinay 4-0-34-0, Ashwin 10-0-59-1 (w1), Jadeja 10-2-34-3,

Mithun 4-0-37-0 (w1), Rahul Sharma 10-0-43-3, Raina 6.2-0-17-2,

Rohit Sharma 5-0-39-0

RESUlT: India won by 153 runs, take 3-1 lead in five-match series,

TOSS: India, UMPIRES: Tony Hill (NZl) and S. Ravi (IND), TV UMPIRE:

Sudhir Asnani (IND), MATCH REFEREE: David Boon (AUS)

SCOREBOARD

Virender Sehwag slammed the highest

score ever in the history of limited overs

international cricket by making 219 off

149 balls with 25 fours and seven sixes.

Sachin Tendulkar who made an un-

beaten 200 off 147 deliveries with 25

boundaries and three sixes against

South Africa at Captain Roop Singh Sat-

dium, gwalior, on February 24, 2010,

held the previous record. Virender Se-

hwag's 219 was the third highest score in

limited overs cricket (list A matches)

after Alistair Brown's 268 for Surrey

against glamorgan at The Oval on June

19,2002 and graeme Pollock's unbeaten

222 for eastern Province against Border

at east london on October 19,1974. The

hard hitting batsman from Delhi also

equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record of

most fours in an innings in limited overs

international cricket with 25 fours. He

also hit the same number of fours dur-

ing his unbeaten 200-run against South

Africa at gwalior on February 24, 2010.

Sehwag scored 142 runs through bound-

aries, fours and sixes during his knock.

Only Shane watson made more runs

through boundaries in one dayers. The

Australian scored 150 runs through

boundaries during his unbeaten knock of

185 against Bangladesh at Dhaka on

April 11, 2011. He smashed 15 fours and

same number of sixes in this innings.n india recorded their highest ever

score in one-day internationals by

making 418 for five in 50 overs. it was

joint fourth highest ever total in lim-

ited overs international cricket. india's

previous highest was 414 for seven in

50 overs against Sri lanka at Rajkot

on December 15, 2009 while their

previous highest against west indies

was 341 for three in 50 overs at

Vadodara on January 31, 2007.

Sehwag outclasses Tendulkar

S. PERvEz QAISER

stats corner

HigHest individual scores in one daYersruns Batsman opponent venue date

219 Virender Sehwag (India) West Indies Indore 08-12-2011200* Sachin Tendulkar (India) South Africa Gwalior 24-02-2010194* Charles Coventry (Zimbabwe) Bangladesh Bulawayo 16-08-2009194 Saeed Anwar (Pakistan) India Chennai 21-05-1997189* Vivian Richards (West Indies) England Manchester 31-05-1984189 Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) India Sharjah 29-10-2000188* Gary Kirsten (S Africa) UAE Rawalpindi 16-02-1996186* Sachin Tendulkar (India) N Zealand Hyderabad 08-11-1999185* Shane Watson (Australia) Bangladesh Dhaka 11-04-2011183* MS Dhoni (India) Sri Lanka Jaipur 31-10-2005183 Sourav Ganguly (India) Sri Lanka Taunton 26-05-1999

HigHest individual scores in limited overs cricketruns Batsman opponent venue date

268 Alistair Brown (Surrey) Glamorgan The Oval 19-06-2002222* Graeme Pollock (Eastern Province) Border East London 19-10-1974219 Virender Sehwag (India) West Indies Indore 08-12-2011207 Mohammed Ali (Pak Customs) DHA Sialkot 04-04-2005206 Alvin Kallicharran (Warwickshire) Oxfordshire Birmingham 04-07-1984

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The Quaid-e-Azam Open Golf Champi-onship comes in a valued addition forthe professional golfers of the countryto show their extraordinary skills. Thehonour of holding the event in thename of the Father of the Nation goesto Lahore Gymkhana.

Shezan International Limited hascome forward with a three years lucra-tive deal for the holding of the event. Adeal of three year is confirmed so thatthere won’t be any break in the holdingof the prestigious activity.

On the opening day of the champi-onship, subsidiary games were heldamong senior professionals, senior am-ateurs and veterans of the game whileover the next three days (December 9 to11), golf of quality is expected to beplayed among about 85 professionals,around 100 amateurs and 10 ladieswhile the top net professionals will beshortlisted to 40 for the final day round.

“A total of Rs one million, which ison stake, will be distributed amongthese 40 golfers with the winner get-ting Rs 146,000,” said Amer Mah-mood, captain Lahore Gymkhana, in a

press conference.In was the effort of Mohammad

Sharif Janjua, Marketing ConsultantShezan and Khawaja Imran Zubair,Convenor Golf, otherwise it was an op-tion lying unattended for a long time.

Apart from this, Pakistan Openand Punjab Open are among theevents for professionals while Gover-nor’s Cup National Championship andregular weekly and monthly events arefeatures of the golf calendar.

“We have kept the event open tomake it a grand championship, whichitself is a hard task to organize,” saidhe. “Lahore Gymkhana has mani-cured its course to make it tough forthe participants who will go out for an18 hole daily routine for a total of 72holes,” he added.

There are 55 bunkers, 6 water haz-ards and out-of-bounds on 8 holeswhich add to the challenge and test ofthe champions ability and force them tostrategize and plan their shots.

Wasim Mahmood, Director Mar-keting Shezan and Khawaja PervaizSaeed, Tournament Director were alsopresent during the press conference.

Khawaja Pervaiz stated althoughthe field is open but it is going to be

tough for even the fittest professionalslike Muhammad Shabbir, MatloobAhmed, Munir, Shahid Javed Khan,Tariq, Imdad Hussain, Baloch, Moham-mad Siddique, Yousaf and Afsar Ali.

As for the young and upcomingprofessionals, the names of Aadil Je-hangir and Shafique Masih stand outand their performances will be underfocus.

Notable amongst the amateursparticipating in this championship areAhmed Zafar (Isb), MohammadRehman (RP), Nadeem Abbas (Sar-godha), Maj Khushal (Abbotabad),Ghazanfar Mehmood (Rwp), KhalidMehmood (Rwp), Robin Bagh (Sar-godha), Wazir Ali (Gym) and RaheelIkram (Gujranwala).

Kh Imran stated that a request wasforwarded to Prime Minister SyedYousuf Raza Gillani to be the guest ofhonour of the prize distribution cere-mony.

Wasim Mahmood stated thatShezan management was glad to pro-mote healthy activity and they wereproud to be associated with a champi-onship that was named after the Fatherof The Nation and hoped to continuesupport of this event in years to come.

Quaid-e-Azam Golf gets underway

"I am very happy for Viru. It iseven more satisfying that anIndian has broken my record." Sachin, the only other batsman to

have hit an ODI double-ton to date

"Well I did watch some of thatinnings by Viru... Brilliantstriking!! congrats on your 219...That's child abuse! [As] The Maskwould say, Smoking!"

Chris Gayle on Twitter

"I say it again! I never saw SirViv bat but I've seen Sehwag bat!What a player, 219 in a one daygame is next to impossible!"

Yuvraj Singh on Twitter

"If you are a cricket fan, pleaseswitch your TV's on right now andwatch a genius bat... Sehwagdestroying the WI... World recordcoming..."

Kevin Pietersen on Twitter

"Wow, Test match tomorrow butam still up watching VirenderSehwag score, hopefully, 200.Unreal, and he does [get the]highest ever. Well done mate."

David Warner on Twitter

"When Viv richards retired Ithought it was end ofentertainment. But then cameSehwag, the king ofentertainment! Long live theking!!"

Ramiz Raja on Twitter

"Sehwag, the greatestslaughterer of bowling since IVArichards."

Derek Pringle, cricket writer

WHAT THEgReaTS Say

LHR 09-12-2011_Layout 1 12/9/2011 1:54 AM Page 19

Pakistan leadtable in SAKarate C’ship

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Pakistan finished at the top of thetable in the 1st South Asian KarateChampionship held in New Delhi,India. The inaugural edition of thechampionship was participated byNepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Pak-istan karate team won seven gold,four silver and four bronze medalsand stood first in the championship.National coaches Shah Muhammadand Khalid Noor who prepared theplayers to such a height. Mean-while, on the sidelines of the cham-pionship, President Pakistan KarateFederation Muhammad Jahangirhas been elected as General Secre-tary of South Asian Karate Federa-tion in general body meeting of theSouth Asian Karate Federation.Chief Referee of Pakistan KarateFederation Nasim Qureshi has beennominated member referee councilof the South Asian Karate Federa-tion. The players who won medalsare: Benish Akbar won two goldand a bronze in 50 Kg Team Kumiteand Team Kata, Uzma Asghar hadgold silver and a bronze in 55 kgTeam Kumite and Team Kata; Kul-soom Hazara took two gold and thesame number of bronze in 68 KgTeam Kumite, Individual Kata andTeam Kata, Qurat-ul-Ain had goldin Team Kumite, Benish Khan tooksilver in 68 Kg, Hina Azeemclaimed bronze in 61 Kg, Muham-mad Kashif two golds in 55 KgTeam Kumite, Mohsin Hazaragrabbed Team Kumite gold, SaadiAbbas Jalbani two golds in 67 KgTeam Kumite, Imtiaz Ali gold inTeam Kumite, Muhammad Ramzangold in 84 kg Team Kumite, BazMuhammad two golds and a silverin 84 Kg Team Kumite and TeamKata, Abdul Khaliq Silver in TeamKata, Jawad Silver in Team Kataand Ali Mehmood bronze in 50 Kg. S NO TEAMS G S B

1 PAKiSTAN 7 4 4

2 SRi lANKA 6 4 7

3 iNDiA 3 5 9

4 AFgHANiSTAN 3 1 4

5 BANglADeSH 0 5 6

6 NePAl 0 0 3

HBl, ZTBl on topin Quaid Trophy

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Habib Bank made solid progress onthe opening day of the round 10 Di-vision I Quaid-i-Azam Trophymatch here at the Gaddafi Stadiumon Thursday. By the close of play,HBL were at 241 for eight againstWAPDA and the credit of the scorewent to Shan Masood, AhmedShahzad and Aftab Khan while Zul-fiqar Baber and Imran Khan didtheir best to apply breaks on HBLscore by taking four and three wick-ets respectively. Meanwhile, ZTBLmade the same advancement in thescore as did HBL at the LCCA. Bythe close of play, ZTBL was at 239for seven against National Bank.Sharjeel, Yasir, Haris Sohail andShahid Yousuf made the total worthfighting but the real impact on theirbatting line up was made by WahabRiaz who was sidelined from the na-tional team in suspicion of spot-fix-ing. He took six wickets for 72. SCORES: Habib Bank 241-8 in 63 overs (Shan Ma-sood 39, 143 balls, 2 x4s, Ahmed Shahzad 58, 47balls, 9 x4s, 2 x6s, Aftab khan 63*, 79 balls, 9 x4s,Zulfiqar Baber 4-91, imran Khan 3-54) v wAPDA,Toss: wAPDA. Umpires: Riazuddin & Akbar Khan;Referee: Aziz-ur-Rehman; Scorer: Azhar Hussain.At lCCA ground, lahore. ZTBl 239-7 in 64 overs (Sharjeel Khan 46, 40 balls, yasir Hameed 53, 99balls, 9 x4s, Haris Sohail 59, 128 balls, 8 x4s,Shahid yousuf 37, 66 balls, wahab Riaz 6-72) vNational Bank Toss: National Bank; Umpires:Saleem Badar & Kaukab Butt; Referee: Muham-mad Anees; Scorer: Abdul Hameed.

Sports20Friday, 9 December, 2011

chITTAGONG: Pakistani cricketers

warm up during a training session. AFP

kArAchI: Pakistan’s star all-rounderShahid Afridi ignited another likelystorm Wednesday when he saidMohsin Hasan Khan was doing a fabu-lous job as head coach and he shouldcontinue but the final decision was upto the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).Shahid Afridi was talking to reportersat Karachi Airport on Wednesdaynight after returning from Bangladeshafter playing a successful One DayInternationals series against thehome team. It is important to men-tion here that PCB’s sources claimed

that PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf iskeen to appoint a full-time foreignercoach for national team, but nowAfridi’s statement in the favor ofMohsin Khan can land him in yet an-other controversy. Afridi, while sup-porting Mohsin Khan, said that heknew the PCB was keen on appointinga foreign coach for the national team.Shahid Afridi said, “Pakistan teamneeds Moshin Khan as he is too sup-portive and during his coaching Pak-istani team has shown immenseimprovement”. He added: “Mohsin not

only supports the team but alsobacks captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Pak-istan cricket team needs such type ofcoach”. Content with his performance,Shahid Afridi said, “I am very happywith my performance, it was just be-cause of prayers of people and myfamily while media also supported meat my crunch time, but I still findroom for improvement in my batting”.Afridi said that he always enjoys a lotperforming under pressure. “I neverplay for records rather my focus is al-ways on team’s victory. Whenever my

team wins matches because of myperformance I feel proud”. The world’stop all-rounder was of the view thatwickets in Bangladesh outsmarted ex-pectations which is why Pakistanfaced difficulties in the last match butthe spin bowling attack did amazingjob. Talking about the upcoming se-ries against England, Shahid Afridisaid, “England in UAE will be the realchallenge for Pakistan. Pakistan teamis doing great but matches againstEngland, India and Australia are al-ways tough task”. STAFF REPORT

AFRIDI BATS FOR MOHSIN KHAN

Amir Khan could be Muslim‘ambassador,’ says promoter

WASHINGTONAFP

Britain’s Amir Khan, a talented world boxing champion on an eight-fight win streak,could also play an important role in combating anti-Muslim prejudice, according tohis US promoter. “He has the character and the background to unite the culturesvery well,” said Golden Boy Promotions chief executive officer Richard Schaefer.“He has what it takes to be that ambassador, to unify countries and people.” Khan,26-1 with 18 knockouts, will defend his World Boxing Association and InternationalBoxing Federation light-welterweight titles in Washington on Saturday againsthometown hero Lamont Peterson, 29-1-1 with 15 knockouts. Khan, who turns 25 onThursday, took the gamble of fighting in his rival’s hometown after a visit to theUS capital in September as a special guest of US Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton. During that visit, the englishman ofPakistani heritage took part in a dinner paying tribute toMuslim athletes to celebrate eid al-Fitr, which marks theend of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. “Itwas a big thing to be invited by the secretary of state,”Khan said. “It was a tremendous honor when youthink of how many Muslims there are in the worldand how many big sports stars there are. “It was anopportunity to send out some good messages, forpeople to respect who we are. I’ve never been shyof speaking about my religion.” Schaefer andGolden Boy boss Oscar de la Hoya are pushingKhan to the next level in boxing, with a likelyrise to the welterweight division in 2012 set-ting up a potential showdown with unbeatenUS star Floyd Mayweather. But Schaeferwould not be surprised to see Khan followthe path of Filipino star Manny Pacquiao,a member of Congress in his homelandwho has aspirations of one day serving aspresident. “He might not be like Manny,running for president, but I think he hasa tremendous future in politics as well,”Schaefer said. “That (Clinton’s invitation)shows he is being recognized at the highestlevel to be such an ambassador.” Khan, whotook a lightweight silver medal at the 2004Athens Olympics, works alongside Pacquiao attimes in trainer Freddie Roach’s Los Angeles gymna-sium. But so far, he says the political urge has not hit him.“I’m a normal guy. I’m going to stay away from politics,”Khan said. “There is a lot of stuff happening in the Middleeast and Pakistan, but I don’t want to get into it too much.“I like helping people, doing charitable work, making thingsbetter.” Khan has given to charity, helping raise $125,000for “Islam Help” in September to bring food, water andmedicine to needy areas in drought-stricken east Africa.

Russian boxerSimakov diesafter KO defeat

MOSCOWREUTERS

Light heavyweight Roman Simakov, whowas carried from the ring on a stretcherafter being knocked out in a WBC AsianBoxing Council title fight Monday, has died,the Russian federation (RBF) said. The 27-year-old had brain surgery after beingrushed to hospital in the Ural city of Yeka-terinburg but never regained consciousnessand died Thursday. “I can only say that theinvestigation into his death is taking place,”RBF official Igor Maruzov was quoted assaying by local media. Simakov wasknocked down in the sixth round by Russ-ian compatriot Sergei Kovalev but got upand was able to continue before receivingnumerous blows to the head in the seventhwhen he was knocked out. “My aim was tooutbox Simakov, not necessarily knock himout,” Kovalev was quoted as saying by Russ-ian media Thursday. “But after the fourthround, I had noticed something was wrongwith Simakov. My last punch was not aspowerful as the one I had hit just beforethat.” It was Simakov’s first knockout defeatand only his second loss in 21 fights duringhis professional career.

Dublin included inOlympic relay route

LAUSANNEAFP

The London Olympic Games torch relay willinclude Dublin in its route the InternationalOlympic Committee (IOC) announced onThursday a gesture which would have beenunthinkable a few years ago. Gilbert Felli,Olympic Games executive Director, saidthat it would be a one day event and takeplace on June 6 and added that there wereno concerns over possible repeats of the dis-turbances that affected the Beijing TorchRelay in several cities on the Int’l route.

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Sports 21Friday, 9 December, 2011

wAtch It LIve

TEN SPORTSSAFF ChampionshipSemi Finals2:20PM

NEO CRICKETAustralia v NewZealand Test 2 Day 14:30AM

NEO CRICKETBangladesh vPakistan Test 1 Day 18:30AM

NyONAFP

england striker Wayne Rooney’s ban foreuro 2012 has been reduced from threematches to two following his appeal toeuropean football governing body UeFAhere on Thursday. Rooney will now beavailable for england’s third Group Dgame, against joint hosts Ukraine, butwill miss the first two fixtures againstFrance and Sweden for kicking out atMiodrag Dzudovic in the final qualifierin Montenegro in October.

A ban for the third match has beensuspended for four years and the 26-year-old has also agreed to do somecoaching in the community with aUeFA project. Rooney travelled toNyon for the appeal after ManchesterUnited’s shock Champions League exit

at FC Basel on Wednesday night, alongwith england manager Fabio Capello.england managing director Adrian

Bevington said: “It is a positive out-come, Wayne and Fabio are both verypleased. Wayne will now head back toManchester, they are both very satis-fied that they have had a fair hearing.“Wayne always made it clear he ac-cepted it was a red card offence and weare very pleased with the outcome.

“We arrived with the possibility ofWayne Rooney missing the entire groupphase so to have him available for thefinal group game against Ukraine is apositive result for us and Wayne Rooneyas well.” Rooney himself had describedhis action as “stupid” and Dzudovic senta statement to UeFA on the ManchesterUnited striker’s behalf. Rooney’s ab-sence for the France and Sweden gameswill nevertheless be a blow for englandas he has scored scored 28 goals in 73selections for the national side.

Rooney’s three-matchban reduced to two

HOBART REUTERS

A week, as former British Prime MinisterHarold Wilson once quipped, is a long timein politics, though New Zealand captainRoss Taylor and his young team have alsodiscovered that it also applies to Test cricket.

Before the first Test against Australia,Taylor's side were brimful of confidenceamid expectations in New Zealand theycould win their first match across the Tas-man Sea in 26 years, and first Test againstAustralia since 1993. Four days later theyhad slunk out of the Gabba after a nine-wicket defeat against an Australian bowl-ing attack that included two pace bowlersmaking their Test debuts and an off-spin-ner in his sixth Test who had never set footon the storied Brisbane ground.

Poor catching, sloppy bowling and a sec-ond innings batting collapse in the face of afiery morning spell from debutant JamesPattinson led to a players-only meeting this

week where "harsh words were exchanged",according to pace bowler Tim Southee.

Taylor said they were now looking toensure there would be no repeat at BelleriveOval when the second and final Test getsunderway in Hobart on Friday. "We're try-ing to keep it as upbeat as possible," Taylortold reporters on Thursday. "Obviously wewere very disappointed with the perform-ance we put in, for the fans back home, andeveryone's hurting. "As a unit, bowlersbowled well in patches, we've just got to bea bit more consistent. And as a batting unitwe need to be able to leave outside the offstump and let them bowl at us.

"A lot of the deliveries that the Aus-tralians did bowl weren't hitting thestumps when they got us out. So, me in-cluded, just (need to) play a lot tighter thanwe did in Brisbane." The New Zealand bat-ting lineup is likely to remain unchanged,with coach John Wright saying earlier inthe week that the top six would be given achance to atone for Brisbane.

New Zealand look to atone, Australia building for India

HOBART: New Zealand cricketer Martin guptill (l) dives to take a catch as teammates Reece young (C) and Ross Taylor (R) look on. AFP

National women’sHockey from today

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

The 27th National Women’s HockeyChampionship will start from Decem-ber 9 the National Hockey Stadium.Railway announced their team withRashid Butt being the manager of theteam. Chief coach will be Naeem Alamand Mushtaq Ahmed Tiwana as coach.The training camp of Railway women’shockey team is in progress at RailwayStadium. The players of the teams are: ImranaSattar (goalkeeper), Sadia Saeeda, Ma-reena Anwar, Usma Naz, Asma Ashraf,Zakia Nawaz, Raqia, Asifa Zafar,Sehresh, Asifa Nisar, Sanna, AqsaBashir, Hina Kanwal, Myra Sabir,Shukria Rasheed, Kalsoom, Iram Has-san and Rehana Kousar. Saeed Iqbal Khan said that Railwaywon the title 13 times and runners-upseven times.

Mcilroy’s strongstart heapspressure on Donald

DUBAIAFP

Rory McIlroy did his chances of becom-ing the new european number one noharm as five birdies in the last six holessaw him finish the opening round of theDubai World Championship two shotsbehind leader Peter Hanson. The Ulster-man, who needs to win the $7.5 milliontournament to go on top of the Race toDubai in his fascinating charge on run-away leader Luke Donald, made a doublebogey on his second hole, but finishedthe day at six-under par 66. That tookhim to third place after the first round,with only Swede Hanson, who matchedthe course record of 64, and the 1999British Open champion Paul Lawrie ofScotland, who made full use of benignearly morning conditions with a seven-under par 65, ahead of him.

LHR 09-12-2011_Layout 1 12/9/2011 1:54 AM Page 21

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

Friday, 9 December, 2011 22

ISLAMABADSHAIQ HUSSAIN

eXPReSSING anger overAfghanistan’s demand forstern action against bannedmilitant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), which Kabul has

blamed for recent deadly suicide attacksagainst Shia mourners in the country,Pakistan on Thursday asked its westernneighbour to stop the “blame game” as itwas harmful to bilateral ties and counter-terrorism cooperation.

“It is high time to get out of the blamegame as such and to move forward in thespirit of cooperation. Publicly accusingPakistan of unfounded events and thingsdo create problems at some stage,” ForeignOffice Spokesman Abdul Basit told re-porters at his weekly press briefing.

He said Pakistan would like to have arelationship that was free of recriminationand blame games. He was asked aboutAfghan President Hamid Karzai’s state-ments concerning terrorist attack on anAshura procession in Afghanistan, with thequestioner saying there had been similaraccusations against Pakistan in the past.

“We condemn in the strongest possi-ble terms the reprehensible crime whichresulted in the loss of 60 precious lives.We express our deepest condolences tothe brotherly people of Afghanistan,”Basit replied.

“extremism and terrorism, as you allknow, are a common scourge and a globalphenomenon. All of us should join hands inorder to defeat these menaces. We haveseen President Karzai’s reported remarksregarding a banned organisation. Wewould encourage Kabul to share evidence,

if any, with us through official channels.The people of Pakistan are committed tofighting against terrorism in all its formsand manifestations,” he added.

Another Pakistani official, on conditionof anonymity, said that LJ had beenbanned by Pakistan a long while ago andthe militant body was responsible forkilling of hundreds of Pakistanis. “LinkingLJ to Pakistan and demanding action onour part against it is absurd,” he said.ENvOYS’ CONfERENCE: In his open-ing statement earlier, the Foreign Officespokesman said an important envoys’ con-ference of Pakistan’s ambassadors andhigh commissioners would be held here inIslamabad on December 12 and 13 to re-view the situation following theNATO/ISAF attacks on Pakistani check-posts in Mohmand Agency.

“The envoys conference will deliberate

on different aspects of the foreign policy ofPakistan,” he said. Pakistan had been pur-suing a scrupulous foreign policy aimed athaving better relations with all countries onan equal basis and under the charter of theUnited Nations to ensure peace, securityand stability in the region, he added.

However, he said that foreign policy asa whole was not being changed but rela-tions with NATO and US following the at-tack were being reviewed as directed by thefederal cabinet and Defence Committee ofthe Cabinet (DCC).

When asked what reviewing the re-lationship with NATO and the USmeant and also what were Pakistan’sdemands from the US in order to resetthe relationship, he said: “You will findout when the time comes.”

34 NATO fuel

trucks destroyed

in Quetta attackQUETTA

AFP

Up to 34 trucks were destroyed in arocket attack on Thursday on a NATOtrucking terminal in Quetta supplyingtroops in neighbouring Afghanistan,police said.A number of oil tankers and goodstrucks were parked in the temporaryterminal after the government shutdown supply lines for NATO forces inanger at a deadly cross-border airstrike which killed 24 Pakistani sol-diers. Senior police official Malik Ar-shad told AFP that unknown gunmenfired bullets and a rocket at the NATOoil tankers and the ensuing blaze en-gulfed 34 vehicles. “We do not knowabout any casualties yet because theblaze is so huge,” Arshad said. “Firstthe fire started in two oil tankers andthe fuel started leaking which spreadthe fire to other vehicles,” Arshad said.“Fire brigade and emergency serviceswere called in immediately after the at-tack,” he said. No group has so farclaimed responsibility for the attack.Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militantsfrequently launch attacks on NATO sup-ply vehicles in the northwest and south-west regions of Pakistan, which borderlandlocked Afghanistan.Most supplies and equipment requiredby foreign forces in Afghanistan are usu-ally shipped through Pakistan, althoughUS troops increasingly use alternativeroutes through Central Asia.NATO has launched an investigationinto the raid last month in which 24Pakistani soldiers were killed.The lethal November 26 air strike hasbrought the fragile Pakistani-US al-liance to a fresh low.Pakistan sealed its Afghan border toNATO supply convoys, boycotted thisweek’s Bonn conference on the futureof Afghanistan and ordered US person-nel to vacate an air base reportedlyused by CIA drones.

ISLAMABADSTAFF REPORT

Announcing that the Abbottabad Com-mission would complete its investigationby the end of December, the commis-sion’s chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbalsaid on Thursday that the investigativebody had sent a questionnaire PresidentAsif Ali Zardari regarding the May 2covert US strike.

“We have addressed a questionnaireto Asif Ali Zardari as co-chairman of Pak-istan People’s Party (PPP) for getting an-swers on important questions… if heclaims immunity from being answerablebefore the commission, the commissionwill look into it,” Justice (r) Iqbal said ina press conference, which was apparentlyheld to dispel ‘objections’ over the speedof the commission’s working.

He said the commission had alsoasked leaders of various political partiesincluding Nawaz Sharif, Asfandyar Wali,Altaf Hussain, Imran Khan and others topresent their points of view on the May 2incident before the commission. He saidthe commission had summoned Pakistan’sformer ambassador to the US HusainHaqqani to get answers on the issuance ofa large number of visas to US citizens.

“We will ask him under which law thevisas were issued to US citizens… we can-not investigate the memo issue but thecommission will definitely look into thosematters of the memo which revolvearound the May 2 incident,” he added.

When a reporter asked Justice (r)Iqbal to confirm that the man killed in theMay 2 operation was Osama bin Laden,he said: “If I tell this what would be left toshare in the report?”

He said all offices were equal beforethe commission and the commission

under its mandate could summon anyoneto question. He said the commissionwould complete its investigation by theend of December 2011 and then compilereport at the earliest. “We will also recom-mend the government to publish the en-quiry report… but making the enquiryreport public does not fall under thepurview of the commission,” he added.

Replying to another question he saidUS authorities had also been contacted toshare information they collected from theAbbottabad compound but they said thematerial was in Arabic and it would takeat least six months to translate it into anyother language.

Dispelling the impression created by a

few circles about the speed of the commis-sion, he said the commission held 20 ses-sion and recorded statements of around100 witnesses in the last five months.

“It was a huge task with numerous di-mensions… we found new facts as wemoved forward opening new dimensionsin the case,” he said. “We are also ques-tioning foreigners as the commissionsummoned head of Save the Children…the commission is also examining the op-erations of various foreign NGOs in thecountry,” he added. The commission wasalso examining the presence of the CIA inPakistan, he said.

LAHORESTAFF REPORT

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) President NawazSharif on Thursday urged thenation to say no to martial lawas Pakistan was not in a posi-tion to afford another one giventhe critical circumstances be-sieging the country on both in-ternal and external fronts.“People should not welcomemartial law and the PML-N willkeep playing its role in foster-ing democracy, strengtheninginstitutions and national in-tegrity,” Nawaz told a delega-tion of senior journalists,columnists, editor and writersincluding Munnoo Bhai, ArifNizami, Anwar Qadwai, Mujee-bur Rehman Shami, SohailWaraich, Rehmat Ali Razi,Bedar Bakhat, Abdul Qadir andKhawar Naeem Hashmi at At-taul Haq Qasmi’s residence onThursday.Nawaz prayed for the promptrecovery of President Asif AliZardari who was under treat-ment in Dubai, saying Pakistanalways topped when it came tospreading disinformationaround the world.He commended the governmenton suspending the NATO sup-ply lines, getting Shamsi Air-base vacated and declining toattend the Bonn Conference inreaction to a NATO attack onarmy checkposts. Nawaz said the NATO was anattack on Pakistan’s sover-eignty, adding that such brazenviolence should never be re-peated. “Pakistan is an ally ofthe US and Washington shouldrespect its sovereignty,” headded. However, he added thatsupply to NATO should not beallowed to resume unless NATOapologised.To a query, Nawaz justified hisstep of moving the SupremeCourt on the memo scandalsaying the move would help ex-pose those responsible for thecontroversy.The PML-N chief said the gov-ernment had lost credibility torule the country due to rampantcorruption, lawlessness, infla-tion and crisis, reiterating thatthe PML-N’s movement againstthe government was for the for-tification of democracy.

Blame game will affect bilateralties, Pakistan tells Afghanistang FO spokesman says Pakistani envoys’ conference next week to discuss NATO attack

Pakistan cannot

afford another

martial law

Zardari sent questionnaireon Abbottabad raid: Iqbalg Commission chairman says investigation will be completed by end of December,

up to govt to decide whether or not to make it public

ContinueD on Page 04

ContinueD on Page 04

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