Human RIghts Organizations condemn release of Malik Ishaq-a mass killer

A Hong Kong based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has expressed deep concerns over the release of banned Lashkat e Jhangvi (LeJ)- an al-Qaeda-linked anti-Shia and anti-US Sunni-Deobandi sectarian-turned-jehadi organisation- leader Malik Ishaq. 
The AHRC which is being run by prominant human right activists of Asia has published a statement on its website (http://www.humanrights.asia/) with the title "A mass killer has been provided protection while the families of his victims continue to suffer threats" in which the release of Malik Ishaq was vehemently condemned and said that it was all done with the consent of Punjab government.
 The statement aslo accused the Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah of conniving with the abductors of Shahbaz Taseer the son of slain Salman Taseer to release his assasin Mumtaz Qadri who was sentenced to death on October 1 by the anti terrorism court in Rawalpindi.
The statement added "Malik Ishaq, well known as a killer in many incidents of sectarian violence and bomb blasts has been taken by the state after killing over 100 victims. He is currently being held under house arrest for a period of ten days, supposedly as protective detention. His arrest happened on September 22, 2011 just two days after the killing of 29 persons from the Hazara tribe, the Shia community, in Mastung, Balochistan province and just three days after a sad incident where four more persons from the same tribe were killed by unknown persons as they were going to work."

It further added that  "a banned religious organisation, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) has claimed responsibility for the killings of the Shiaite and Malik heads that organisation. Malik was bailed from the Supreme Court of Pakistan in July from many cases regarding killings and bombings. Malik remained in detention for 14 years but the government could not provided protection to witnesses. Also the prosecution produced very weak cases which ultimately benefitted his defence. Subsequently he was released on bail by the Supreme Court on the grounds of these weak cases. He still faces seven cases and confessed that he planned the attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket Team when he was in jail in March 2009. In the attack seven security personnel were killed."
He was detained on September 22 on the pretext that he was facing death threats and needed protection. His arrest was made under Article 5 of the Maintenance of public order for ten days. The house detention generally does not fall under the term of punishment in the country as during that period the detainee has access to communications via cell phones, internet and the electronic media.
Immediately after his release on bail he visited many places and roused the people on sectarian issues. At the same time he organised his group, the LeJ, which is supposedly banned by the government. However, the LeJ has overtly opened offices in many districts of the Punjab province and is collecting funds on the streets by means of collection boxes in shops and restaurants. After the killing of the 29 Shia pilgrims from the Hazara tribe in Mastung, Balochistan province as they were going in a bus to visit the shrines of religious leaders in Iran, the LeJ has come out openly and announced that it would continue its movement against the Shia sect as they are infidel and they should be declared a non-Islamic religious group.
It is also alleged that banned militant religious groups are exciting violence in Punjab province with full institutional protection from the ruling party of the province. The federal minister on Interior Affairs accused the Punjab provincial government that its ministers and officials are closely associated with the LeJ which is why no action has been taken against the group.
The state's attitude, particularly that of the armed forces, towards the militant religious groups is very soft and sometimes it seems that the militant groups are being protected for the purpose of being used at some suitable time in the future when the state of affairs goes out of the control. The state of Pakistan, which is mainly run by the military, has been using religious militant groups against the liberals and enlightened persons and forces.
In another case, Qadri, the killer of the assassinated governor of Punjab has been given the status of a hero of Islam and is enjoying every facility of life in custody; facilities which he never had in his ordinary life being a head constable in the police. He has access to his network through mobile phones and is being held in a special ward of the jail and allowed to have visitors who meet him regularly. All of this is contrary according to the prison manuals.
The son of the assassinated governor of Punjab, Mr. Shahbaz Taseer, was also abducted by militant groups from Punjab province on August 27 and his whereabouts remain unknown. It is reported that the LeJ is negotiating through the Punjab government for the release of Qadri in exchange for Shahbaz. The negotiations are apparently being carried out under the supervision of the law minister of Punjab province who is notorious for having relationships with the banned militant groups. Therefore all efforts for the release of Shahbaz have been in the interests of the militant organisations.
The state has totally failed to provide protection to the citizens from the religious militant organisations who are surviving on the mercy of Jihadis.
It has been stated before in many forums that the government of Pakistan is turning a blind eye to the atrocities perpetrated by the religious militant groups. There can be no possible justification for the deaths of innocent persons in the name of religion. Religious minorities see no form of protection or redress from the government whose campaign promise was to provide protection for every citizen of the country. However, it is ironic that one of the very people responsible for these atrocities is being protected by the very government that is supposed to be protecting his victims. Malik's protective detention under the guise of house arrest comes after his organisation, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, claimed responsibility for the killings of the Shia pilgrims. One must ask if this is another attempt at appeasement by the government towards the militant religious groups.
The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the government of Pakistan to realise that the international community is closely monitoring the situation and is quite capable of seeing the very blatant discrepancies in the treatment of the victims and the perpetrators. We vehemently condemn the protection provided for a mass murderer while his victims continue to face death threats and religious intolerance. We urge that action be immediately taken against the LeJ and its members. The Minister of Law of Punjab province who is aiding and abetting this organisation must be prosecuted particularly for his connivance with the abductors of Mr. Shahbaz Taseer to obtain the release of a murderer. We also urge the government to ensure the safe release of Mr. Shahbaz Taseer and that suitable compensation and rehabilitation be provided to the victims and families of the Mastung carnage.

Text of President Zardari article published in Washington Post

For Pakistan, no turning back from reform
By Asif Ali Zardari

When I was elected president more than a year ago, Pakistan was in grave condition, strained by terrorism and a ravaged economy.  Countering the effects of a decade of dictatorship requires bold actions, some of which are unpopular. I am working with Parliament to run a country, not a political campaign. The goal of our democratic government is to implement policies that will dramatically improve the lives of Pakistanis. In time, good policies will become good politics.
Our economic crisis demanded unprecedented response. On taxes, education, agriculture and energy, we have shown that we must adapt, reform and become self-sufficient. Terrorists do not want Pakistan to succeed. They want to distract us from preparing for a stable and prosperous future. After a suicide bomber killed 75 people in northwestern Pakistan this month, U.S. media reports noted that “the militants’ objective is to sow terror among the general population in hopes of putting more political pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari’s government to back down.” But militants underestimate us.  Just as our people refuse to be terrorized, our government refuses to be derailed from its course of fiscal responsibility, social accountability and financial transparency.
Restoring economic health has required raising fuel prices and taxes. These moves are understandably unpopular. Stringent terms had to be accepted to partner with the International Monetary Fund, but we understood the condition of our economy and the global economy and acted decisively.
The war against terrorism has cost Pakistan not just in lives but also in economic terms, freezing international investment and diverting priorities from social and other sectors. Despite constant challenges on multiple fronts, we took the political hits and stuck with reform. The IMF has even praised “the efforts being made by the authorities to further stabilize the economy, to advance structural reform and lay the foundations for high and sustainable growth. The early signs of recovery, declining inflation, and the improved external position are encouraging.” Pakistan met IMF criteria last month to receive the “fourth tranche,” or $1.2 billion, of its loan funding—no easy feat during a global recession. Corrupt governments don’t reach this level of IMF partnership. The World Bank, European Union and United States have all applauded our accomplishments. This praise may be little reported, but it’s far more important than the chimera of polls.
Pakistan’s economic resurrection has been the product, primarily, of our own sweat and blood. The return of democracy was negotiated and carried out by the intercession of the West. Pakistanis know that expediency has at times caused the world’s extended democracies to support dictatorships, as happened after Sept. 11, 2001. The West has a moral responsibility to ensure that our democratic transition continues. Long-term moral values must prevail. If the community of developed democratic nations had, after our last democratic election, crafted an innovative development plan with the scope and vision of the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe after World War II, much greater economic, political and military stability would already have been achieved. Some in my country disapprove of efforts to increase the power and fiscal responsibility of our provinces and the integrity of our institutions. Those who found comfort with dictators have resisted change. Pakistan tried it their way—and endured catastrophe. We intend to build a new Pakistan using long-term solutions based on sound fiscal management.
Now, some Western reports suggest the Pakistani military does not support the policies of our democratic government. This is not true.  Not only is our military courageously battling extremists in Swat and Waziristan, and succeeding, but our troops also are supporting the country’s democratic transition and adherence to our Constitution. Some in Pakistan question our international alliances because they disapprove of our allies’ actions, such as Thursday’s unilateral U.S. drone attack against militants in Waziristan. We should all understand that concern. But we are fighting for our lives, and Pakistan’s policies cannot be based solely on what is popular. When Franklin Roosevelt threw a lifeline to Britain with the Lend-Lease program, few Americans supported challenging the Nazis. Harry Truman had less than 15 percent support among Americans to rebuild Europe. They did what was right, not what was popular, and so will we.
History has shown the difference between expedient policies and the long-term goals of true statesmen. When the history of our time is written, Pakistan’s decisions will be seen as a turning point in containing international terrorism. We are building a functioning society and economy. In the end, these sometime unpopular steps will create a Pakistan that sucks the oxygen from the fire of terrorism.  Those who are counting on Pakistan to back off the fight— militarily and economically—underestimate my country and me.
(TEXT ENDS)

What we gained and what lost since creation of Pakistan

Keeping in view the present confused situation, people across the country are very much concerned about the future of Pakistan.
Some people even say now that they were far better before the creation of the country. After sacrificing thousands of lives, today we could not achieve the destination for what the founder of the country dreamt off. We have already lost our eastern part due to our own obliviousness. USA, Israel, India and Europe are busy in making plans to divide Pakistan into number of small states so that this only Islamic atomic power may deprive of this ability.
                          
Our political leaders have successfully divided us into different groups on the basis of languages and sects. Now we are being identified as Sindhi, Seraiki, Balochi, Punjabi and Pakhtoon. But during these 64 years, we could not make even a single Pakistani.
We should unite as a nation and should reject all those elements who are dreaming of division of the country. The new generation is confused about the future of the country and they ask "What is the future of Pakistan". Following are some optimistic facts and figures.
Pakistan has now become the 46th big economy in the world. At the time of its creation, to run the government affairs, the country's expenditures were Rs. 800 million while its revenues were only Rs. 450 million, so the rest of funds were met with the help of patriotic people of Pakistan.
Today, Pakistan's revenues are have been exceeded to Rs. 2000 billion Our per capita income has reached to over $ 1000 per anum.
During last 60 years the country's average growth rate remained 5 per cent. Poverty rate has declined from 60 per cent to 24 per cent in 2005-06.
In 1947, total population of western Pakistan was 30 million and at that time, all the commodities were imported from the world. Today, our total population is 180 million and we are independent in wheat flour, sugar, rice, milk, fabrics and medicines and even we earn more than $25 billion by exporting these commodities.
Our people who are working abroad send $ 12 billion to their country. Our exchange reserves has reached to $ 18 billion and total volume of trade has reached to $ 60 billion.
Pakistan is one of those few countries in the world which has modern banking system and a number of foreign banks' branches are also working in the country. Our youth consists of 60 per cent of total population.
At the time of its creation, there was no industry in Pakistan. There were no textile mills, no jute mills, no paper mills, no automobiles industries and not even banks. Today everything is present in the country.
In 1947, Quid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah inaugurated first industry (Walika Textile Mill) in SITE Karachi and today Pakistan's textile mills are well recognized around the world.
World demands our fabric, denim, bedwea, garments and lawn.
Pakistan is the world's 2nd largest cotton yarn exporter, 3rd largest fabric exporter, and 4th largest cotton producer. Pakistan is listed among top ten countries in textile products exports.
In 1947, we produced only one million bales of cotton whereas now it has reached to 15-16 million bales.
During last 50 years, number of new water reservoirs and dams were constructed due to which our cultivated land is 22 million hectare. Pakistan is among the leading countries of the world in natural resources.
Pakistan is number one in the world in ghee production, 2nd largest in gram production, 4th largest in cotton, rice and apricot, 5th largest in milk production, 6th largest in wheat and dates, 7th largest in mango production, 8th largest in kinnow production and 16the largest in meat production.
Pakistan has made wonderful development in manufacturing sector like steel, cement, automobile, sugar, fertilizer, textile, vegetable ghee, chemical, petroleum products, auto parts and electricity fans.
Electricity consumption in 1947 was only 57 MW while now it has reached up to 20,000 MW. Pakistan has well trained 5th largest armed forces which is equipped with modern weapons and missile technology. Pakistan has also become among the exporter countries of defence products.
God has endowed us huge reservoirs of natural gas and this time we are consuming 32 billion cubic feet which is 50 per cent of our total power requirements.
We are also producing 700 MW power generation from nuclear technology from Chasma I and II with the help of China. And work is going on on Chasma III and IV civil nuclear energy power projects which will produce further 700 MW.
In 1947, one vehicle was available for 1000 people in Pakistan while now in 2011. there are 52 vehicles for the same number of people. In 1947, 4000 people were getting facility of telephone connection whereas now in 2011 the number has reached to 100 million. On different news channels, some analysts, with the consents of western countries, are talking about the dismemberment of the country. Even they are showing off the new maps of the country.

Akhtar shoots at Sachin and Musharraf in new book

Pakistan’s most controversial cricketer Shoaib Akhtar invited a little more drama on the eve of his book launch, tearing into Indian greats Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid while also taking shots at former national captain Wasim Akram and even the country’s former president Pervez Musharraf.

n the book titled “Controversially Yours” Akhtar says, “I think players like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid weren’t exactly match winners to start with, nor did they know the art of finishing the game.”
He then zeroes in on Tendulkar saying, “I bowled (Sachin) a particularly fast ball which he, to my amazement didn’t even touch. He walked away! That was the first time I saw him walk away from me-that, too, on the slow track at Faisalabad.”
Excerpts of the book released to the media have managed to create much hype but it is surprising that the bits about Tendulkar and Dravid were made public considering the fact that the autobiography will be first published in India.
But Akhtar is not one to shy away from such a situation and said in an interview to Times of India, “What I’ve written is my experience, put as honestly for others to know. This is the truth – for the world, it may be a big controversy.”
Akhtar, who called time on his career following the 2011 World Cup, has also shockingly admitted that he tampered with the ball claiming, “everyone tampers with the ball. I did so too. Tampering should be legalised.”
He has also dug deep into the working of the Pakistan cricket- the administration, his early career, former and current players and the class discrimination in the setup.
Taking a dig at Shoaib Malik, Akhtar has stated in his book that the Pakistani all-rounder was PCB’s stooge.
“Shoaib Malik doesn’t deserve to be captain and was made captain because he was a stooge of the PCB Chief Naseem Ashraf,” states Akhtar.
Another shocking revelation is one where he claims Wasim Akram attempted to finish his career.
“Wasim Akram threatened to walk out with half the team if I was included in the team. General Tauqir Zia backed Shoaib against Wasim,” Akhtar says of fissures previously unheard of.
Javed Miandad, Pervez Musharraf, Shah Rukh Khan and Lalit Modi have also come into the crosshairs in the autobiography.
The book is tentatively scheduled to be out today in India

Pak America Relations

WASHINGTON: US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen on Wednesday told the Wall Street Journal that attacks against US soldiers in Afghanistan will not be tolerated, DawnNews reported.

He stated that the partnership approach between the US and Pakistan would be hard to revive now.
Mullen told the WSJ that the US will be very firm in its approach with Pakistan and its battle against terrorism. He said that he believed that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had supported the Haqqani network, which is the militant group the US blames for the Kabul attack. Mullen blamed the ISI for providing “logistic support” to the Haqqani network.
He said the US wanted a strong relationship with Pakistan, however, given the current situation, it will take time to restore those relations and trust.

Supreme Court’s official website hacked

ISLAMABAD: A hacker on Tuesday defaced the official website of Supreme Court.
The hacker inserted derogatory and abusive remarks against the apex court and Chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry after gaining access to the website (www.supremecourt.gov.pk).
The court has taken notice of the hacking and initiated probe into the incident.
Official of the apex court noticed that the website was compromised around 08:00am, but believed that the hacker may have gained access earlier at night.
According to Mumtaz Ali, the network administrator at the Court, programmers were trying to restore the website back to normal.
“Our webpages are hosted on the government-owned National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) servers, and managed by their technical staff. Our programmers are working to resolve the issue,” said Ali.
According to the network administrator, the court’s website only contains general information pertaining to judges’ profiles, the court’s annual reports and cause lists.
The possibility of sensitive data being compromised did not exist, he added.
The hacker, who calls himself ‘The Notorious Zombie_Ksa’ and belongs to a group named Pakbugs, left a message on the site’s homepage, claiming to have left the data intact, and that no other damage was done to the site.
The hacker claimed that he had tempered with the web pages to get the attention of the chief justice.
Among other things, he had asked the chief justice to order Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block access to all pornographic content on the internet.
The group also claimed to have hacked the FIA and PTA’s servers in the past.

Taliban insists it controls Haqqanis, not Pakistan

KABUL: The Taliban took the unusual step Tuesday of insisting that it, not Pakistan, controls the Haqqani network, with Islamabad under growing US pressure to cut alleged ties with the group.
The militia advised Pakistan to prioritise “Islamic and national” interests and stand firm in the face of “America’s two-faced and implacable politics”.
“Neither are our bases in Pakistan nor do we need residence outside of our country,” said the English-language statement in the name of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan —the Taliban’s name for itself —on its Voice of Jihad website.
“All the military and civilian activities in the country are our own initiatives and our own actions.
“The respected Maulawi Jalaluddin Haqqani (the group’s founder) is (one of the) Islamic Emirate’s honourable and dignified personalities and receives all guidance for operations from the leader of the Islamic Emirate.”
Most analysts consider the Haqqani network a powerful Taliban faction loyal to Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar, with strong ties to al Qaeda.
“Our advice to the people of Pakistan and its government is that it should deliberate on America’s two-faced and implacable politics,” said the Taliban.
“It should always give precedence to its Islamic and national interests and they should have a firm belief that America will never be happy with them until they loot all their material and moral assets.”

Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi with Kashif Abbasi on September 26, off the record

Ahmadinejad United Nations Speech: 'U.S. Too Incompetent to Run World'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's United Nations speech on Thursday angered a number of world leaders, especially the delegates from the United States, who walked out of the General Assembly while Ahmadinejad soliloquized.

The Iranian statesman alleged that the United States was and still is an imperialist, Zionist oppressor responsible for many of the world's wars. The most damning part of his speech (full text here) came as a series of rhetorical questions about a nameless world power who "abducted forcefully tens of millions of people from their homes in Africa and other regions of the world during the dark period of slavery."
He also attacked NATO as a whole, alleging that the organization is a war-mongering hegemony that is responsible for causing more misery than it has abated. This, in a way, was actually his most salient point. He cited the fact that NATO and the United States are spending significantly more money on each of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya than they are on humanitarian disasters such as the famine in Somalia. 

"Do these arrogant powers really have the competence and ability to run or govern the world? Is it acceptable that they call themselves the sole defender of freedom, democracy, and human rights, while they militarily attack and occupy other countries?" Ahmadinejad asked the G.A.
"Can the flower of democracy blossom from NATO's missiles, bombs and guns?"
What Ahmadinejad didn't address, however, was Iran's record on the same humanitarian issues that he used to attack the United States. Iran actually is a significant contributor to Somalia, and has so far provided more than $25 million in aid and set up a camp in Mogadishu.
The United States has also pledge a significant amount to Somalia, but under the provision that the aid not be sent to any region controlled by rebel group al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab is an al-Qaeda backed rebel group that controls most of the six areas in Somalia where famine has been officially declared.
However, Iran's humanitarian record is not clean either. Iran executes the second most prisoners of any nation and is also one of the few places to still sentence teenagers to death.
On Wednesday, 17-year-old Alireza Molla-Soltani was publicly hanged for stabbing Ruhollah Dadashi, a famous athlete known as "Iran's Strongest Man."
“The execution of a 17-year-old is deeply shocking, particularly when carried out in public, which brutalizes all those involved, including those who witness it,” stated Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa on Wednesday.
Iran has held almost 100 executions in September alone, most, but not all of which, have been reported by the government. There have been about 400 total executions so far in 2011 in Iran, according to Amnesty, including the “retribution” sentences given to convicted murderers.
On of the most offensive parts of President Ahmadinejad's speech was his language concerning the Sept. 11 attacks. He referred to them as the "mysterious September 11 incident," which was used as an excuse to kill and displace "millions in two countries with the ultimate goal of bringing into its domination the Middle East and its oil resources."
He also criticized the killing of Osama bin Laden, who he thinks deserved a trial and an inquisition.
Ahmadinejad spoke for 30 minutes, but never mentioned the biggest United Nation's topic: Palestine's bid for statehood. He did, however, claim that the United States "imposed, through deceits and hypocrisy, the Zionism and over sixty years of war, homelessness, terror and mass murder on the Palestinian people and on countries of the region."

LeJ leader Malik Ishaq placed under house arrest days after incident in Muzaffar Garh

 The Punjab government has placed Malik Ishaq under temporary house detention because of his attempts to stoke Sunni-Shia conflict since his release from prison two months ago, police said on Thursday.

A founding member of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Ishaq was allegedly involved in dozens of killings, but was released on bail in July after 14 years in prison because the Supreme Court decided there was not enough evidence to keep holding him.

He has been giving public speeches since his release whipping up anger toward Shias, said a police officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.
His speeches were causing fresh vigor among its followers who were involved in regrouping and reorganizing themselves.

According to an official document prepared by a department working under Punjab government, available with The Express Tribune, Ishaq vowed to continue to kill “the enemies of the Sahaba (Prophet Muhammad PBUH’s companions)” at a seminar on September 4.
“LeJ is not a terrorist outfit. It was set up to ensure proper respect for the companions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH),” Ishaq reportedly said.

 The provincial government on Wednesday ordered that Ishaq remain at home for 10 days, said Sohail Chattha, the police chief in Rahim Yar Khan where Ishaq lives.
Ishaq’s behaviour endangered “sectarian harmony and caused a sudden rise in sectarian temperature in the country,” said Chattha.

The similar activities were witnessed on September 18 when on the arrival of Malik Ishaq in Ali Pur of district Muzaffar Garh, hundreds of activists of LeJ gathered and started chanting anti shia slogans which caused an unfortunate incident killing two people and injuring at least 12 people.
Most Sunnis and Shias live together peacefully in the country, but extremists from both sides carry out attacks against the opposite sect.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility in a telephone call to a local journalist in Quetta, but that claim could not be verified.
Ishaq was arrested in 1997, and has been accused of a slew of crimes. In 2009, he was blamed for orchestrating an attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore. Six security officers and a driver died in that assault.  

Ishaq had been flouting government’s orders by traveling across the province, since he is on an anti-terrorism watch list and is required to request permission before leaving the jurisdiction of his local police station.

Attack on GHQ: confessions of a terrorist mastermind

ISLAMABAD, Sept 20: The venue was Miramshah. The attendants of the meeting included some of the most notorious militants of Pakistan. And their agenda was nothing short of explosive -- an attack on the GHQ with the aim to take military officers hostage. Shortly after the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009, Aqeel Ahmed alias Dr Usman alias Kamran alias Nazir Ahmed fled to Waziristan where he met the head of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s Amjad Farooqui Group, Ustad Aslam Yasin and Ilyas Kashmiri.

It was at this meeting that the idea of the attack on the General Headquarters was floated, reveals the main accused of the attack, Ahmed, in a confessional statement. He along with his seven accomplices was convicted by a military court on Aug 11, 2011, for the audacious attack on the GHQ in October 2009. Shooting their way into the military’s main headquarters, cowboy style, the militants took men hostage in one of the buildings. They remained there till the next morning when commandos finally entered the building, killing most of the militants and rescuing the hostages.
The brazen attack took the mili tary and the nation by surprise; it was a successful operation from the psychological point of view.
The confessional statement of Ahmed reveals the detailed planning that went into the attack.
He also claims that in the Miramshah meeting he was reluctant to attack the army. However, the other two men argued that the Pakistan Army as an ally of the United States was a legitimate target.
Ilyas Kashmiri said that the plan was to hold army generals hostage at the GHQ till they could get detained militants released in exchange. According to the statement, Yasin gave Ahmed a list with 115 names on it; these were the men whose release was to be demanded. He also assured Ahmed that he would be accompanied by a team of trained warriors.
Ahmed also revealed that he and his accomplices used Google Earth to download the maps of GHQ on the basis of which they planned their attacks.
The planning, according to the court documents, took the team months. Apart from arranging for the weapons that were brought to Rawalpindi from Jhang, the accused made multiple reconnaissance trips to the GHQ during the summer of 2009.
However, it was Wajid Mehmood, another accused from a non-military background, who pointed out the locations where high-ranking army officials, including brigadiers and generals, could be found. Ahmed, who is known for his involvement in a number of highprofile attacks, including those on Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, joined Harkatul Jihad Al Islami in 1999 after completing his studies and went to Afghanistan twice.
After 9/11, he returned to Pakistan after being injured and joined the Army Medical Corps (AMC) as a nursing assistant and was posted to the CMH in Rawalpindi. He was still in touch with Jihadi ‘friends’ then.
It was here that he became friends with another accused, Imran Siddique, who was then a soldier in the army.
According to his statement, Ahmed deserted the army in 2005 and became involved with the Amjad Farooqui group.
By August 2009, the GHQ plan was in full swing. Ahmed first rented a room at Bilal Boys Hostel, Rawalpindi, and started surveillance of GHQ’s surroundings.
The weapons and explosives were brought over by Usman alias Ishfaq alias Gul Khan hidden in a CNG cylinder.
In September, Ahmed rented a house near DHA’s phase II. He also acquired a van that he then proceeded to fit with army number plates, his statement reveals.
Army uniforms for eight of his accomplices cost him Rs30,000.
According to the statement, from Oct 1 to 9, 2009, Ahmed along with his accomplice Ali carried out surveillance of the area and also briefed others on the attack by using “distance measuring tool” on Google Earth.
Initially, the attack was planned for Oct 6 but this was delayed to Oct 10 as some of the accomplices fell ill.
The statement said the 10 attackers reached the GHQ via Murree Road and dispersed in different directions. The audacious attack as the men broke past the checkpost resulted in the death of five of them. The rest were able to make it in.
The statements of army officers that comprised the prosecution case highlights the element of surprise with which the attack was carried out. In fact, the bulk of the prosecution’s statements focus on what they saw once the men had made it in. There is little information on what happened at the checkpost.
According to the court documents, the militants made hostage five officers and 20 civilians.
Before they took the men hostage, Ahmed also shot dead the driver of a jeep who refused to tell the militants the locations of the offices of the generals. However, the statement does not explain if the militants were looking for any specific generals or army officers.
Ahmed claimed in his statement that by 11am the militants had taken over the GHQ and the entire area was ‘within their firing range’ though he added that they were surrounded by the army.
The negotiations continued all night; at six in the morning, the SSG attacked and entered the building. They killed the four other militants who were watching over the hostages. Ahmed survived this attack as he was holed up in a separate room from where he was carrying out negotiations over the phone.
In his statement he explains that he then hid in an office, coming out only to join the men carrying out the rescue work; a building had collapsed and men were trying to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble.
He nearly escaped scot-free but for a security officer who identified him.
Maj Akhtar Hussain Qamar, security officer (technical) at GHQ, who witnessed the whole episode on CCTV, identified Ahmed. “I saw the whole incident on CCTV and observed that 10 attackers/terrorists had dismounted from a Suzuki van near the Tank Chowk picket. Here they attacked the picket as well as some security staff and five of them were hit, whereas other five managed to enter into the GHQ premises. I reported this whole incident to my superiors. Later I assisted SSG persons and troops in planning the counterattack and recognition of the attackers/terrorists since features/figures of accused number 1 (Ahmed) were very clear in footage.” According to the chargesheet of Ahmed, security staff recovered nine rifles, one rocket-launcher, 16 empty magazines, 28 loaded magazines, four ammunition pouches, two fly liver-grenades, six AP Claymore mines, six rockets, six expelling charges, eight handgrenades, eight detonators and 19 40mm grenades of Gp-25 from the militants.
The military court had sentenced Ahmed to death while his accomplice, former soldier Imran Siddique, was sentenced to life in prison. Three civilians were also sentenced to life in prison while two were sentenced to seven years each in prison.

Regards: Dawn

26 killed in attack on Shia pilgrims in Mastung

At least twenty six people were killed and a number of others injured in Balochistan's city Mastung when some armed persons opened indiscriminate firing on the Shia pilgrims who were traveling to Iran from Quetta.
Assistant Commissioner Mastung Shah Nawaz has confirmed the deaths and said that the injured had been shifted to different hospitals of Quetta.
According to the Police, the armed men opened fire on the shia pilgrims from all sides of the bus. There were 50 passengers in the the bus at that time.
A police official while talking to Reuters said that the terrorists opened fire on the bus from all sides first and then they entered into the bus.
Later, when the ambulances were busy taking the injured to the hospitals, the armed men also opened fire on those ambulances and three people were also killed as a result.
 Balochistan Home Secretary, Naseebullah Bazei said that the pilgrims did not informed the government about their travel to Iran.
He said that the Balochistan government  has a a mechanism for the security of the pilgrims of Iran but the government had no information about these unfortunate pilgrims.
Most of the dead belong to Hazara Tribe of Quetta.

Burhanuddin Rabbani killing plunges Afghanistan peace effort into crisis

 KABUL:
Hopes of ending the war in Afghanistan through a negotiated settlement appeared in tatters on Tuesday after insurgents assassinated Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, a former president of Afghanistan appointed by Hamid Karzai to begin peace talks with the Taliban.
At around 6pm local time a bomb ripped through Rabbani's house in the heart of Kabul's diplomatic district, just a stone's throw from the US embassy which was attacked by militants last week.

Sources close to Rabbani said the former president died in the explosion and Masoom Stanekzai, another key official in charge of Karzai's reconciliation strategy, was seriously injured.
Such an apparently deliberate attack on a still-embryonic peace process that has created tensions within Afghanistan and between its neighbours is likely to tip the country further into political crisis.
Unconfirmed reports indicated that the two men were holding a meeting with a pair of insurgents to discuss peace plans. That raises the possibility that one of the insurgents could have been the bomber.
Mohammad Aslam, a baker whose shop is just down the road from the house, said he thought the blast came from within the house as the sound of the explosion was "extremely weak".
Rabbani, who was chairman of the High Peace Council which was set up by Karzai last year to develop a framework for peace, regularly held meetings with insurgents on either side of the Afghan-Pakistani border.
A Tajik and former warlord from northern Afghanistan who fought against the Taliban, he was a controversial choice. Although many analysts argued that the Taliban would never take a man with his history seriously, his appointment was also designed to appease northern, non-Pashtun Afghans who were deeply suspicious of any peace deals.
Rabbani's death is likely to embolden those opposition figures who are most strongly opposed to a peace talks with insurgents.

Guardian

Kate Winslet wins best actress in mini-series Emmy

LOS ANGELES, Sept 19: British actress Kate
Winslet won the best actress in a mini-series Emmy on Sunday, for
her role in period drama "Mildred Pierce."

The Oscar-winning star plays a divorcee single mother who
opens a restaurant to survive in the Great Depression in the drama, for
which her English-born co-star Guy Pearce won best supporting actor Emmy
moments earlier.
Winslet gave a short acceptance speech saying she "didnt
think we were going to win anything" -- until her gong it had been having a
disappointing night -- before thanking her mother.
Winslet's success came on a big night for another British
period drama, "Downton Abbey."
The show won the best mini-series Emmy, while veteran
Maggie Smith won best supporting actress and Julian Fellowes, who wrote the
British period drama, best writer of a mini-series.
Brian Percival also won best director for "Downtown Abbey,"
which tells the story of the aristocratic Crawley family in the stately home of the
show's name.

-AFP

Thousands protest against nuclear power in Japan

TOKYO, Sept 19 Tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied
in Tokyo on Monday calling for an end to nuclear energy in Japan after
the March 11 disaster that sparked the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl.
About 60,000 people gathered for the anti-nuclear rally,
organisers said, one of the biggest since the earthquake and tsunami and the
following disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

"No more nuclear power plants! No more Fukushimas!" the
demonstrators chanted under scorching sunshine as they flocked to Meiji Park, in
the centre of the capital, ahead of the march.
The demonstration, organised by several anti-nuclear
groups, also saw residents evacuated from areas outside the Fukushima Daiichi plant
some 220 kilometres (136 miles) northeast of Tokyo take part.
Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has pledged to
draw up a new energy policy focusing on renewable energy sources but stopped short
of ruling out the future use of nuclear power following the Fukushima
disaster.
Japan had previously aimed to use nuclear power to generate
around 50 percent of its energy needs by 2030 in a bid to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and enhance the energy independence of the resource-poor
archipelago.
But sentiment has shifted since the quake and tsunami
crippled the plant's cooling systems, sparking reactor meltdowns that spewed radiation
into the environment forcing tens of thousands to evacuate from a 20
kilometre radius.
Radiation fears have become part of daily life after cases
of contaminated water, beef, vegetables, tea and seafood due to the Fukushima
accident. The government has been at pains to stress the lack of an "immediate"
health risk.
Reactors that were halted for routine inspections have not
been restarted amid a public backlash against nuclear power, and currently only 11
of Japan's 54 reactors are online.
---AFP

Two killed as Malik Ishaq continues preaching tour

Ali Pur:

It was all too predictable. After being released from jail on bail, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leader Malik Ishaq’s presence has already managed to cause violence and death on Sunday morning when members of his entourage clashed with a Shia community in Muzaffargarh district, resulting in at least two deaths and ten injuries.

Ishaq, a leader of the banned anti-Shia militant organisation, has been charged with the murder of 70 people, most of them Shia. He was released on bail on July 16 and has been travelling the country, preaching his message of bigotry against the Shia community ever since.

                                          Activists of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
                                                        (LJ) escorting LJ's head Malik Ishaq, through Punjab clashed with
                                                         locals in Alipur. PHOTO: AFP/FILE Ishaq had planned on travelling to Alipur in Muzaffargarh district on Sunday. Supporters of his organisation, as well as the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (formerly the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan), had begun preparations on Saturday night, putting up banners and chanting slogans.
The Shia community of Alipur, had raised concerns with the police over the intention of the LeJ leading a procession through a Shia neighbourhood. Police officials dispersed the LeJ supporters on Saturday night and assured the Shia community that the event would be addressed by ASWJ leader Khadim Hussain Dhiloon and would take place indoors.
“We believed the police’s assurances,” said Kazim Ali Haideri, a local leader of the Punjab Shia Ulema Council.
At 4 am on Sunday morning, however, a welcoming party comprising approximately 800 young men on motorcycles chanting anti-Shia slogans started to ride into Alipur on the road from Panjnad.
For three kilometres on either side of the road is a Shia-dominated neighbourhood called Ghalwaan. While passing through that neighbourhood, at a point called Petrol Pump Wala Chowk, the young LeJ supporters encountered members of the Shia community.
It is unclear exactly what happened next, but given the toxic mix of armed young men confronted with people they have been taught to hate, it is perhaps sadly predictable that somebody started shooting (both sides claim it was the other).
The shootout lasted for several hours, during which at least two LeJ supporters were killed. Another 10 people were injured, including six from the Shia community. At least one police officer, Subinspector Shaukat, however, was confirmed injured by the police.
Following the armed clash, around 9.30 am, both sides retreated into their respective sanctuaries. The Shia community regrouped at the Sallonwala Imambargah while Ishaq’s supporters gathered at the Madrassah Jamia Hussainia.
During the clash itself, most of the police in the area, barring a few officers who had been posted nearby, did not go close to the warring parties.                                          
Until the filing of this story, both sides remained holed up in their respective hideouts. The police are trying to negotiate a way for both sides to eventually leave, but had not been successful as late in night.
“They provoked the clash,” said Haideri.
It is unclear how Ishaq was allowed to leave his hometown in the first place, since he is on an anti-terrorism watch list whereby he is required to ask permission before leaving the jurisdiction of his local police station.

(Regards: The Express Tribune)

ICC one-day team rankings India slip to 5th, Pakistan remain in 6th

KARACHI, Sept 17: World champions India have dropped to fifth position in the International Cricket Council’s ODI rankings after England’s 3-0 series win in Cardiff on Friday.
According to the latest rankings released by ICC on Saturday, it is India’s lowest ranking since October 2008 when they spent three months at the No 5 position to sum up a disappointing summer in England where they slipped from top position in the ICC Test Championship to third place after losing all four Tests.
India had entered the series in third position on 117 ratings points and finished on 112 ratings points after they lost the second, third and fifth matches of the one-day series, while the first ODI at Chester-le-Street was washed-out and the fourth at Lord’s had ended in a tie.
Meanwhile, Pakistan have gained one ratings point for their 3-0 victory against Zimbabwe. However, there is no change in their ranking as they stay at sixth position, 11 behind India and as many ahead of seventh-ranked New Zealand.
Latest ODI rankings:                                                                                             points
1. Australia...........................................................................................................130
2. Sri Lanka..........................................................................................................119
3. South Africa......................................................................................................116
4. England ............................................................................................................113
5. India..................................................................................................................112
6. Pakistan.............................................................................................................101
7. New Zealand......................................................................................................90
8. West Indies ........................................................................................................78
9. Bangladesh..........................................................................................................63
10. Zimbabwe .........................................................................................................44
11. Ireland ...............................................................................................................41
12. Netherlands ........................................................................................................15
13. Kenya....................................................................................................................0 —APP

American dollars ending up in Taliban hands: US official

WASHINGTON, Sept 16: The US government money spent on contracts in Afghanistan is ending up in the hands of the Taliban that American troops have been fighting for nearly a decade, and it is unlikely the flow can be shut off completely, a senior Pentagon official revealed on Thursday.
Testifying before a House oversight panel, Army Brig-Gen Stephen Townsend did not provide figures but said US military authorities in Kabul were working to stem the flow by tightening oversight of contracts and vetting prospective vendors more carefully.

An AP report said last month a special US task force estimated that $360 million in US contracting dollars had been lost to the Taliban, criminals and power brokers with ties to both. US officials said only a small percentage of the total had been garnered by the Taliban and militant groups.
Gen Townsend, director of the PakistanAfghanistan Coordination Cell, noted that the $360 million represented a fraction of the $31 billion in active US contracts that the task force had reviewed. Still, he said, it is a large sum.
“It’s clear to us some of that money is going to the insurgency and we’ve got to do whatever we can to stop that,” Gen Townsend told the House Oversight and Government Reform national security subcommittee. “I don’t think we can completely stop it, but we’ve got to do whatever we can to minimise it.” Overall, the subcommittee’s hearing painted a bleak picture of stemming corruption in Afghanistan.
“It’s just rotten from top to bottom over there,” said Rep. Stephen Lynch, a Democrat. “We’re getting fleeced.” Gary Motsek, deputy assistant secretary of defence for programme support, didn’t dispute Mr Lynch’s assessment.
“This is a society that is based on 3,000plus years of doing things this way,” he said. “We are not going to change it overnight.” Instead of trying to eliminate corruption, US efforts should be focused on controlling it “so that our interests, our dollars, our values and our resources are protected,” Mr Motsek said.
Rep. John Tierney, a Democrat, and Mr Motsek sparred briefly over the Pentagon’s decision not to ban the Watan Group, an Afghan-owned company, from doing business with the US after the firm was accused of operating an illicit protec tion racket while working under an army transportation contract.
Mr Tierney said the Pentagon let the company “off the hook.” Mr Motsek said an army official made the call based on the facts he had in front of him.
“I just don’t find that satisfactory,” countered Mr Tierney, who detailed his complaints about the decision in a Sept 13 letter to Defence Secretary Leon Panetta.
Mr Tierney led an investigation last year that concluded that Watan’s owners, Ahmad and Rashid Popal, and Haji Ruhullah, a former Watan employee, had bribed local Afghan officials and used heavy weapons prohibited by the contract. They all denied funnelling money to the Taliban, Mr Tierney said, but evidence gathered by his staff “raised doubts about those claims”.
Mr Ruhullah was not barred from US contracting. The army cited his status as a subordinate at Watan and said his inability to speak English meant he could not understand the terms of the contract.
But Gen Townsend said Mr Ruhullah remains under watch by US authorities. “I can’t go into it a whole lot, but Ruhullah is not off our scope,” he said.
Gerald Posner, Mr Ruhullah’s lawyer, said his client “stands ready and willing to help US investigators and I hope they provide him an opportunity to answer any questions they might have.” Watan, represented by the Washington law firm Venable LLP, went to federal court earlier this year when it appeared the army would ban them from US contracting. A judge dismissed the suit.—AP

After 3-0 defeat against England, India drop to fifth position

World champions India dropped to the fifth position in the Reliance ICC ODI Championship table after England won the five-match ODI series 3-0 on Friday. It is Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side's lowest ranking since October 2008, when it spent three months at the number-five position, to sum up a disappointing summer in England where it slipped from number-one position in the ICC Test Championship to third spot after losing all the four Tests.

India had entered the series in third position on 117 ratings points and finished on 112 ratings points after it lost the second, third and fifth ODIs while the first ODI at Chester-le-Street was washed out and the fourth at Lord's ended in a tie.
In fact, India had slipped to fourth position after the third ODI at The Oval where it went down by three wickets (according to Duckworth-Lewis method) and then slipped further behind after defeat in another rain-reduced match in Cardiff.
In contrast, England has gained a place and has moved to fourth position. For remaining unbeaten in the series, Alastair Cook's side earned six ratings points which has left it just one point ahead of India and three behind third-ranked South Africa.
However, India will have a chance to not only reclaim lost ground but potentially move into second position depending on how it performs in the five-match ODI series against England which starts at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad Oct 14.
But India will also have an eye on the three-match ODI series between South Africa and Australia, which starts at Centurion from Oct 19.

Interview of Raja Jahangir who said he was a Pakistani Anna Hazzare

Jahangir Akhtar's hunger strike continues on fifth day

ISLAMABAD: Walking up to the dusty pathway to get to the canopy under which Jahangir Akhtar’s was sitting on the fifth day of his hunger strike, one has to wonder, whether or not the movement will actually amount to anything. As well intentioned as he may be, can one old man make a difference? Can, as Akhtar said today, we stop selling out our country to all parties, foreign and domestic?

Part of the answer to that came from Jawad, Akhtar’s son, “If the following of my father matches that of Anna Hazare only then can these [idealistic] goals be met.” He remind me of the role that the media played in highlighting Hazare’s strike and shared his disappointment with the low level of interest shown by the Urdu press.

Although he was looking feeble due to prolonged hunger strike, his commitment was strong and he was committed to do what he said. Doctors were anxious about his health as his sugar level was going down rapidly. But Mr. Akhtar was not ready to end his strike.
After a few minutes of silence out of respect for the Azaan, Akhtar’s better known supporters began to talk of their hopes. Pakistan Awami Party President Fanoos Gujjar noted,” If you complain of American imperialism, this is your chance to peacefully show your resistance. From GHQ to the parliaments, to the President House and governors houses, our message will be heard.” He later reminded the nation’s elected leadership of who they should owe their loyalties to. “[PM] Gilani, [President] Zardari, we put you there, we can drag you out.”
There was a short interruption then, as Asim Sajjad, an academic and leader of the Workers Party of Pakistan, reminded people to show civic sense and not block traffic by parking in no parking areas, as the government has already given the common folk enough headaches.
Sajjad, an MIT graduate, spoke on the promotion of militarism by the state education system, state-run media and right-wing media and mouthpieces. “We are taught to fear India in schools and by the state media so that we will not question military spending and demand social services. But it is not India threatening Pakistan. It is hunger, poverty and depravation. We must spend on social services or we will be left beating the same drum.”
The point against partisan speech reminded people of the shameful extent of our own leadership’s own partisan politics, which, according to a policeman, is “intended to make them look effective while the state continues to teeter on the edge of an abyss.”
With a story in hand, I got up to leave, when I noticed a man in a wheelchair approaching. I recognised him, and I still remember the events that put him in that chair. It was Dr Israr Shah, a former PPP member, beaten in the elections for one of Islamabad’s MNA seats by the corruption-scandal-plagued-runaway MP Anjum Aqeel. He is a double amputee today because he actively supported the judicial movement. His reward, in his own words, was “being sacked from the party’s Central Executive Committee for speaking against corruption within the party”.
Dr Israr spoke only for a few minutes, but in that time he moved everyone present. After expressing his support for Akhtar’s cause, he addressed the silent majority, “Losing my legs does not make me helpless. Losing my conscience does. Unfortunately, those without it can never regain it.”
He closed with a stinging message, “To my disabled brethren, governance needs no legs. Governance needs heart and integrity, both of which are sadly lacking.”
Earlier, Enver Baig, a former PPP Senator and senior leader who left the ruling party after baseless accusations of working against party interests, came to show his support. As Akhtar’s son reminded me that the only reason Akhtar was not at the deadly bombing that took Dr Israr’s legs was that he was a ‘guest’ of the police at the time, the trend of once-senior PPP leaders showing up reflected the fractures within the ruling party.
The last speech I heard was Jahangir Akhtar’s, as he addressed the crowd again, reminding them that he “respects parliament because it is by the people. If people are angry with it today, they must acknowledge the mistake they made on Election Day and work to fix it the right way: by demanding parliament to correct itself. Until parliament accepts we are right, we must continue.”
Addressing the people of Pakistan, he said, “I risk my life, all I ask is your time. We restored the Chief Justice, we will fix the country.” He closed with a message to the army, “I understand the pressure on the army to maintain the status quo, but if you do not listen to the people, you will wander aimlessly like a Russian Cossack, looking for help and finding none.”
Earlier, a doctor checked him up and said his health is holding up well, considering that he is a heart patient.
Labour Party Pakistan (LPP)’s Advocate Nisar Shah, National Students’ Federation leader Aliya Amirali, Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Payaam Trust’s Basit Subhani also spoke.

The Journalist and the Spies

The murder of a reporter who exposed Pakistan’s secrets.

by Dexter Filkins September 14, 2011

Pakistani intelligence officials warned Shahzad to curb his reporting, which revealed links between the military and Al Qaeda.

On May 30th, as the sun beat down on the plains of eastern Pakistan, a laborer named Muhammad Shafiq walked along the top of a dam on the Upper Jhelum Canal to begin his morning routine of clearing grass and trash that had drifted into the intake grates overnight. The water flow seemed normal, but when he started removing the debris with a crane the machinery seized up. He looked down and saw, trapped in the grates, a human form.

Shafiq called some colleagues, and together they pulled out the body. Occasionally, farmers and water buffalo drown in the canal, float downstream, and get stuck in the grates, but never a man in a suit. “Even his tie and shoes were still on,” Shafiq told me. He called the police, and by the next day they had determined the man’s identity: Syed Saleem Shahzad, a journalist known for his exposés of the Pakistani military. Shahzad had not shown up the previous afternoon for a television interview that was to be taped in Islamabad, a hundred miles to the northwest. His disappearance was being reported on the morning news, his image flashed on television screens across the country. Meanwhile, the zamindar—feudal lord—of a village twenty miles upstream from the dam called the police about a white Toyota Corolla that had been abandoned by the canal, in the shade of a banyan tree. The police discovered that the car belonged to Shahzad. Its doors were locked, and there was no trace of blood.
The previous afternoon, Shahzad had left his apartment, in the placid F-8/4 neighborhood of Islamabad, and driven toward Dunya studios, about five miles away. It was five-thirty; the television interview was scheduled for six. According to a local journalist who talked to a source in one of Pakistan’s cell-phone companies, Shahzad’s phone went dead twelve minutes later. His route passed through some of the country’s most secure neighborhoods, and no one had reported seeing anything suspicious. Some Pakistanis speculated that Shahzad might even have known the people who took him away.

It was a particularly anxious time in Pakistan. Four weeks earlier, American commandos had flown, undetected, into Abbottabad, a military town northwest of Islamabad, and killed Osama bin Laden. The Pakistani Army, which for more than sixty years has portrayed itself as the country’s guardian and guide, was deeply embarrassed: either it had helped to hide bin Laden or it had failed to realize that he was there. Certainly it hadn’t known that the Americans were coming.

Less than three weeks after the Abbottabad raid, the Army was humiliated a second time. A group of militants, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and suicide vests, breached one of the country’s most secure bases, the Pakistan Naval Air Station-Mehran, outside Karachi, and blew up two P-3C Orion surveillance planes that had been bought from the United States. At least ten Pakistanis affiliated with the base died. The components of several nuclear warheads were believed to be housed nearby, and the implication was clear: Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal was not safe. In barracks across the country, military officers questioned the competence of Pakistan’s two most powerful men, General Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, the chief of the Army staff, and General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or I.S.I. Some officers even demanded that the Generals resign. Ordinary Pakistanis, meanwhile, publicly disparaged the one institution that, until then, had seemed to function.

Amid this tumult, Shahzad wrote a sensational story for Asia Times Online, the Web site that employed him, saying that the attack on the Mehran base had been carried out by Al Qaeda—not by the Pakistani Taliban, which had claimed responsibility. He said that the Mehran assault had been intended to punish the military for having conducted “massive internal crackdowns on Al Qaeda affiliates within the Navy.” A number of sailors had been detained for plotting to kill Americans, and one “was believed to have received direct instructions from Hakeemullah Mehsud”—the chief of the Pakistani Taliban. It was not the first time that Shahzad had exposed links between Islamist militants and the armed forces—a connection that Pakistan’s generals have denied for years. But the Mehran article was his biggest provocation yet.
Shahzad, whose parents migrated from India after Partition, making him a muhajir—Urdu for “immigrant”—was an affable outsider within Pakistan’s journalistic circles. Asia Times Online is not connected to any of the country’s established newspapers; its editorial operations are based in Thailand. Shahzad had no local editor to guide him or restrain him. Only a few other journalists had written as aggressively about Islamist extremism in the military, and not all of them had survived.
A hallmark of Shahzad’s reporting was that it frequently featured interviews with Islamist militants, including Al Qaeda fighters. His work was sometimes inaccurate, but it held up often enough so that other journalists followed his leads. Perhaps because he had cultivated so many militants as sources, he occasionally seemed to glorify the men who were carrying out suicide bombings and assassinations. In 2009, he published a breathless account of a meeting with Ilyas Kashmiri, a top Al Qaeda leader. Shahzad noted that the terrorist “cut a striking figure,” was “strongly built,” and had a powerful handshake, adding, “Ilyas, with his unmatched guerrilla expertise, turns the strategic vision into reality, provides the resources and gets targets achieved, but he chooses to remain in the background and very low key.” At other times, like many Pakistani journalists, he seemed to spare the intelligence services from the most damning details in his notebooks. But on several important occasions—as in the case of the Mehran attack—he wrote what appeared to be undiluted truth about the Pakistani state’s deepest dilemmas.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/09/19/110919fa_fact_filkins#ixzz1XvbHh7T0

Finance minister forms Coordination committee to expedite M-9 project

ISLAMABAD, Sept 13 (APP) - Federal Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Tuesday formed a Coordination Committee to expedite the build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects and to attract the serious local and international parties for participating in these projects. He was chairing a meeting held here on Tuesday During the meeting a brief strategy for the fast track execution of projects was put forwarded by member (implementation and monitoring) of planning commission. In a presentation, member (implementation and monitoring) Planning Commission proposed that an implementation board comprising Deputy Chairman Planning Commission as a Chairman, and representatives from the concerned ministries and departments, is needed which has its own constitution and legal entity. 

This board will focus on to assist executing agencies (EAS) to implement rules, regulation, policies and procedures for Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements, keeping in view laws and regulations defined by procurement regulators (PPRA) and international standards.

The board will facilitate EAS for underdevelopment projects to ensure timely execution and completion and also coordinate among different ministries and departments to ensure fast track development and management of projects under Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements.
The Board will also coordinate with banks and financial institutions to devise and implement strategies for minimizing time consumed in the arrangement of financing for the concessionaire.
It will also provide a forum for finalization of agreements between EAS and investors/developers, under PPP arrangements, where implementation body will act neutral to provide a balance between interests of public and private parties.
Chairman National Highway Authority (NHA) on the occasion said that the said board will prove to be useful and it will assist NHA in many ways.
While concluding the meeting, the Finance Minister agreed to form a coordination committee which will work on the same lines as of proposed implementation board.
The committee will comprise of Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, member (implementation and monitoring) of Planning Commission, Chairman NHA, Secretary Communication and Secretary Planning.
This committee will especially focus on construction of mega project of Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway M-9.

President appeals for special prayers for flood victims

ISLAMABAD, Sept 13 (APP) - President Asif Zardari on Tuesday appealed to the people and all political parties to offer special prayers on Wednesday after Zuhr prayers for the flood victims in Sindh and other parts of the country.In a message from London the President also urged the people to pray for those suffering from dengue fever and other ailments.According to the Spokesperson for the President Farhatullah Babar, the President said these are testing times that call for demonstrating unity and rising above the political considerations.While the government was doing all it can to alleviate the sufferings of people the need for collective prayers against natural calamities was no less important, the President added.

US begins relief assistance for Pakistani flood victims

WASHINGTON, Sep 13 (APP): The United Sates, responding to Pakistan’s appeal for flood relief assistance, has swung into action with provision of shelter and medical supplies for victims and internally displaced people, the State Department said.  “We have already started sending food assistance through AID. Our  assistance should reach about 346,000 Pakistanis. We’re also sending  shelter and nonfood items through AID partners to reach about 5,500 families. And we’re also providing medical services to reach about 500,000 Pakistanis,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.

The assistance includes 8,000 tents, 17,000 shelter kits, food rations for 71,000 families through our international partners like the International Organization for Migration, UNHCR, and the World Food Programme, the spokesperson said.
Incessant monsoon rains have inundated several villages and towns in  downstream Sindh province, claiming around 200 lives and displacing millions from their homes.
Islamabad made the appeal in the face of massive relief requirments and  widespread flooding in agricultural land and infrastructure disruptions.
Pakistan’s neighbors China and Iran are also aiding Pakistani efforts to provide relief supplies to the flood-affected communities.
The United Nations has also pledged efforts to rally support for Pakistan’s massive relief work ahead.

15 pc surcharge payable by all tax payers: FBR clarifies

  

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) announced on Monday that the 15 per cent surcharge under section 4A of the Income Tax Ordinance 2011 is payable by all tax payers of their tax liability for the Tax year 2011, irrespective of whether their tax year ends on December 31, 2010 or June 30, 2011 or any other date.

In a circular issued here, the FBR has made certain clarifications to the 15 per cent Surcharge under section 4A of the ordinance in view to address the queries being received by the Board suggesting multiple interpretations of this Section and to streamline the implementation of this time bound provision.

The circular further clarifies that the Tax Liability for the entire Tax Year 2011 may not be subjected to the imposition of surcharge and the same be levied on the proportionate liability for a period of three and a half month.

“It may hence be noted again that the surcharge is to be computed at 15 per cent of the Income Tax payable for three months and a half on pro-rata basis and the tax liability inclusive of 15 per cent surcharge so calculated is to be set off against the taxes withheld or collected in the tax year”, the statement added.