------------------------------------------------------------------- The DAWN Wire Service (DWS) is a free weekly news-service from Pakistan's largest English language newspaper, the daily DAWN. DWS offers news, analysis and features of particular interest to the Pakistani Community on the Internet. (c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 1995DAWN WIRE SERVICE
------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 05 October, 1995 Issue : 01/39 -------------------------------------------------------------------
=================================================================== ------------------------- CONTENTS
NATIONAL NEWS
------------------------- Karachi ..........11 fall victim to gunmens killing spree ..........One killed, 10 hurt in violence ..........12 vehicles set on fire ..........Four killed, six vehicles set ablaze in city ..........Steps urged to arrest worsening Karachi situation ..........Five killed in city violence ..........Six gunned down in city MQM ..........Talks may be further delayed ..........Altaf flays collective execution ..........Workers killed in fake encounter: MQM ..........Altaf's sister challenges husbands detention ..........Khan asks MQM to fix date, venue for talks ..........Protest strike today ..........Dehlavi links resumption of talks to judicial probe ..........MQM strike leaves 14 hurt in Hyderabad ..........MQM team stays away from dinner ..........Govt urges MQM to resume talks ..........UN approached against Altaf's allegations ..........MQM man dies in 'custody' ..........Gul urges MQM, govt to resume talks ..........Altaf condemns killing of activists ..........Govt accepts some MQM demands Brown Amendment ..........Brown Amendment clearance held up ..........Clinton backs Brown Amendment ..........Brown Amendment clearance delayed by 10 days Brewery licence case hearing begins India, Pakistan clash at UN Opposition criticises New City project Traders, police clash near IT office in Lahore No question of break-up of Sindh: Fazl People fed up with agitation: PM India may resort to war, fears Nasrullah Iran denies sealing borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan No compromise on principles, says Murtaza -------------------------------------BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
------------------------------------- Present parity hurting economy Renewed violence depresses stocks State Bank abolishes credit-deposit ratio Bank security of power company encashed World Bank invites Pakistan Rupee loses 7 paisa more against $ ---------------------------------------EDITORIALS & FEATURES
--------------------------------------- "Hum badla lengey" Ardeshir Cowasjee How Karachi killings cast their shadow over the economy Jafar Wafa Levels of maturity By Mazdak Islamabad diary : The unholy fixation with foreign policy Ayaz Amir -----------SPORTS
----------- India's hockey challenge quenched by Pakistan Pakistan, Sri Lanka meet in one-dayer today Pakistan seize victory in 1st one-day against Lanka Sri Lanka win one-dayer at Faisalabad, level series Pakistan put out Holland, earn bronze Crucial one-dayer today in Rawalpindi Pakistan lose one-day series Pakistan surrender 1-day series as well to Lanka IMRAN KHAN SAYS : Salim case confusion should be c1eared
NATIONAL NEWS
=================================================================== 950929 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 fall victim to gunmens killing spree ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 28: Eleven people, including a woman police officer, were shot dead and four others wounded in the city on Thursday. Shagufta Parveen, 35, a police sub-inspector, was gunned down in Khwaja Ajmer Nagri. She was going home after performing her duty when some unidentified persons pumped bullets into her body near her house. She was posted at police lady cell in the Gulberg police station. Police constable Imran, 30, was killed and two other constables, Abrar and Aslam, were wounded in New Karachi. Preliminary reports said the victims fell prey when their patrolling party was attacked near Sindhi Hotel by unidentified killers. Police and rangers later besieged the locality and were continuing search operation till the filing of this report in search of the killers. Habib, 30, a green-grocer, was shot dead in North Karachi. Mohammad Shahid, 18, was found shot dead in Oragni Extension. According to the wife of the victim, her husband was killed after he was kidnapped when he refused to work for a political organisation, police claimed. Abdul Wahid, 30, a butcher, was gunned down in Orangi Town. The police, said the incident had occurred over a quarrel between the children of the two families. Sharafat Hussain, 60, a Pir of some religious order, was shot dead by unknown assailants outside his Astana in Gulbahar. His son, Tariq, had found him dead outside the Astana. The assailants had smashed his skull with bullets. The body of an unidentified man was found with stab wounds in his chest from New Karachi. Edhi centre volunteers said the victim was tortured and burnt to death. His identity could not be established. The body was, however, shifted to Abassi Shaheed mortuary for autopsy. A man who was shot dead near a bridge in Orangi No. 7, on Wednesday night had been identified as Kamran. According to late night report five more people were killed in New Karachi. Two of them were identified as Iqbal Ahmad, 33, and Papoo son of Nizamauddin. Armed men attacked the residence of the Muslim correspondent and a former president of the Karachi Press Club, Salahuddin Haider, on Thursday night. No one was hurt in the attack. According to Mr Haider, about half a dozen armed young men riding in two vehicles tried to scale the walls of his residence and fired shots in the air. The guard at his residence, who watched them scaling the wall, returned the fire. The intruders, not expecting opposition, fled the scene, leaving behind the vehicles, said Mr Haider.950930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- One killed, 10 hurt in violence ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 29: One person was killed and 10 others, including a girl and two women, were injured and seven vehicles torched on Friday. The body of an unidentified man, 27, was found in Orangi Town. There were several bullet hole on it. Residents reported heavy firing in the air, pelting of vehicles with stones in Liaquatabad, Federal B Area and some other parts of the city. Unruly young men also disrupted traffic on the road leading towards Sohrab Goth. They intercepted vehicles, forced passengers out and put buses on fire in Liaquatabad, Samanabad and Azizabad. Kanwal, 8, travelling in a mini-bus was injured when the agitators hurled stones on passing vehicles in Liaquatabad. Sajoo, 45, Shafiqa, 35, Iftekhar, 40 and Mohammad Sadiq, 50, riding in a mini-bus were injured when their vehicle came under attack by rock throwing protesters near Teen Hati bridge. Imran, 9, and Ashraf, 12, were wounded when firecrackers exploded in Ghaziabad in Orangi Town. A motorcyclist, Bakht Khan, 40, was wounded by a stray bullet in Baldia Town. Agha Sadiq Abbas, 30, was also reportedly injured in a similar incident in the same locality. Zaheer Ahmad, 43, was wounded in a shooting incident in the Risala area. The riots were apparently triggered by the killing of three MQM workers in New Karachi on Thursday night. A resident of Gulberg, talking to Dawn by telephone, said thick clouds of smokes were swirling around the houses which caused suffocation so much so that it was difficult to breath after arsonists set vehicles ablaze. Other parts of the city remained relatively calm. DWS 951001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 vehicles set on fire ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 30: Twelve vehicles were set on fire in various parts of the city and a rocket was fired at a police station on Saturday. Three unidentified persons riding a Suzuki Alto fired a rocket on the North Nazimabad police station. Police said the rocket blasted its way through the boundary wall of the police station, but no one was injured. Constable Karar Hussain, 39, was injured when a police party patrolling in Baldia Town came under fire by unidentified attackers. Gulzar and Noor Shah were wounded in separate shooting incidents in Keamari. Zahid and Shah Ali were wounded in Baldia Town, Ayesha in Gadap and Mohammad Arif in Baldia Town. Gangs of unidentified arsonists went on rampage stopping vehicles and putting them to torch. Three mini-buses were set ablaze on M.A Jinnah Road. Two buses were put to torch in Arambagh and Borapir and a truck was set on fire in Orangi Town. Three cars were set ablaze in Nazimabad, a Suzuki was burnt in North Nazimabad, a taxi in Korangi and a car in Sharifabad. Branches of the two local banks were reportedly ransacked in Orangi Town and Liaquatabad. Miscreants also exploded fire crackers in Federal B Area, North Nazimabad and on Tariq Road, spreading panic as people ran for safety. DWS 951002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Four killed, six vehicles set ablaze in city ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Oct 1: Four persons were gunned down and city life was disrupted, during the day-long strike by the MQM to protest against the extra-judicial killing of its workers in police custody. Six vehicles were set ablaze and five persons were injured during violence. The bodies of Shakeel Ahmad, 26, and Jehanzeb, 28, were found in Ibrahim Haideri. Both were corporals in the PAF. According to ISPR sources, they had been missing since Saturday evening, and their bodies were found stuffed in sacks in the boot of an abandoned car in the Jumma Goth of Korangi on Sunday. They were kidnapped on the way and tortured before being shot dead, the sources said. According to the ISPR, this is the first time during the current disturbances when PAF personnel have lost their lives. The bullet-riddled body of an unidentified 15-year-old boy was found in a storm drain in Bhittai Colony. A man was shot dead in Orangi Extension. His political affiliation or identity could not be ascertained. A young man, who was killed in a shooting incident in Khwaja Ajmernagri on Saturday night, was identified as Khalil. Sardaran Begum, 55, who was wounded in a shooting incident on Sept 21 died on Sunday. Six vehicles were put to torch by agitators in different areas of the city. Some arsonists, trying to stop the traffic, allegedly went on rampage, setting a car on fire in New Karachi, a minibus in Azizabad, a jeep in Joharabad, a minibus in Orangi Town, a car in Azizabad, a bus in Liaquatabad and a coach in Azizabad. Those injured in shooting incidents were identified as Ahsan Raza, 20, in Gulzar-i-Hijri, Gul Muneer, 27, in Gulberg, Irfan, 20, in Orangi Town, Jan Gul, 18, in New Town, Shaukat Ali, 40, in Gulzar-i-Hijri. According to a handout, four persons were arrested in Korangi after an encounter. They were identified as Asghar, Kamran Khan alias Madhori, Mohammad Asad alias Chhota and Wasim alias Qamar Ali. The police also claimed to have recovered four TT pistols from their possession. In another raid, the Sindh police special security cell arrested Mohammad Saleem and Ashar Hameed on Martson Road and seized two TT pistols from them. DWS 951004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Steps urged to arrest worsening Karachi situation ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Oct 3: Karachi is passing through a macabre period and needs immediate steps to rein in the drifting situation as every passing day is not only bringing a bad name to the government but also inflicting untold miseries on the people. This was almost the consensus of speakers present at the book launching ceremony, The Karachi Papers, written by Iqbal Yusuf, a PPP leader and adviser to the Sindh chief minister. Those who spoke on this occasion included eminent writer Shaukat Siddiqui, politicians Prof Ghafoor Ahmad of JI, Prof Shah Farid-ul-Haq of JUP and Sindh Minister for Planning Nisar Ahmad Khuhro. Mahmood Sham, editor, Jang, recited his two poems on Karachi. Shaukat Siddiqui, author of the famous novel Khuda ki Basti, in his presidential speech stressed the need for holding direct talks with MQM chief Altaf Hussain. He recalled: "The governments which till yesterday called Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat terrorists, now hold talks with them, so why not our government. Whether you call Altaf Hussain a murderer, an executioner or a terrorist, the solution to Karachi's crisis lies in holding talks with him." Mr.Siddiqui said: "It is the duty of the government to protect lives and property of the people and any government which fails to discharge this basic responsibility has no right to govern." Advising people to read The Karachi Papers to understand the crisis, he lauded the courage of the author who, although belonging to the ruling party, had made observations and suggestions which differed from the government perception. Prof Ghafoor Ahmad, JI deputy chief, quoting from the book said the young politician had given a truthful account of the present state of affairs in the city when said: "Karachi is being ruined, its streets are mourning, and bodies littered in bazaars. There is chest beating and wailing in houses and quietness at shops. Factories are being rendered unviable and such an atmosphere of terrorism is prevailing that every citizen is a prisoner of fear." The JI leader lamented that the PPP government in its third regime had adopted "a policy to meet terrorism with terrorism. No where in the world terrorism can be overcome through use of force," he added. Referring to the MQM-government talks, he said no one appeared to be serious in negotiations. Without naming law minister N.D. Khan and interior minister Naseerullah Babar, he pointed to "contradictions" in their approach saying: "The federal government has taken over control of Karachi. People are being killed in police encounter. What type of democracy we have in which a minister speaks of people being killed in encounters and no one is there to check him. Had it been some other civilised country, the minister would have been tried for murder," Prof Ghafoor added. The JI leader said the "oppressed" people of Karachi had became hostage in the hands of the PPP and the MQM . Prof Shah Farid-ul-Haq, JUP vice president, said although the government used to claim that a foreign hand was involved in the Karachi crisis, it had failed to come out with proofs. Referring to the 18 demands of the MQM, he said most of them could be accepted outright if the government was sincere. Similarly, he said, Altaf Hussain should demand of the government the setting up of a judicial commission to investigate the 21 charges framed by the government against the MQM. DWS 951004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Five killed in city violence ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Oct 3: Violence in the city left five persons dead and another wounded on Tuesday, Moreover, arsonists torched two vehicles. Shakeel, 18, an MQM activist, was killed in a shootout between rival groups in Korangi. The police said unknown men shot him dead after abducting him from his residence. Violence erupted in the locality following this incident and the supporters of the victim set ablaze a bus and a Suzuki on fire in Korangi. The police rushed to the site and dispersed the angry protesters. Later, the police claimed to have arrested Atique and Mohammad Jehangir alis Babu, both sub-sectors-in-charge of MQM units in Korangi. A Kalashnikov and a TT pistol, were seized from them. Tariq, 22, was shot and killed in the Nabi Bakhsh police limits. The bullet riddled body of 50-year-old man, Mohammad Bakhsh, was found in New Karachi. Taj Mohammad, 13, was found dead in Quaidabad. The body bore bullet marks. The strangled body, with bullet holes, of an unidentified man, 50, was found near a graveyard in Liaquatabad. His identity and political affiliation could not be ascertained. The body was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for autopsy. DWS 951004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Five killed in city violence ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Oct 3: Violence in the city left five persons dead and another wounded on Tuesday, Moreover, arsonists torched two vehicles. Shakeel, 18, an MQM activist, was killed in a shootout between rival groups in Korangi. The police said unknown men shot him dead after abducting him from his residence. Violence erupted in the locality following this incident and the supporters of the victim set ablaze a bus and a Suzuki on fire in Korangi. The police rushed to the site and dispersed the angry protesters. Later, the police claimed to have arrested Atique and Mohammad Jehangir alis Babu, both sub-sectors-in-charge of MQM units in Korangi. A Kalashnikov and a TT pistol, were seized from them. Tariq, 22, was shot and killed in the Nabi Bakhsh police limits. The bullet riddled body of 50-year-old man, Mohammad Bakhsh, was found in New Karachi. Taj Mohammad, 13, was found dead in Quaidabad. The body bore bullet marks. The strangled body, with bullet holes, of an unidentified man, 50, was found near a graveyard in Liaquatabad. His identity and political affiliation could not be ascertained. The body was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for autopsy. Shakir Hussain was wounded in a shooting incident in Jetland Lines. DWS 951005 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Six gunned down in city ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Oct 4: Six people were gunned down and three others wounded in the city on Wednesday. A heavy contingent of the police had cordoned off parts of Saeedabad, Baldia Township, in the early hours to track down suspects involved in various shooting incidents. The area remained under siege for 12 hours, but police did not show any arrest. The body of a 35-year-old man, with his hands and feet tied, was found strangled in the boot of an abandoned taxi opposite Sabzi Mandi. Later, he was identified as Akhtar Munir, a resident of Peshawar. Mohammad Alam, 28, an ex-policeman, was shot dead in Liaquatabad. The motive of murder could not be ascertained. His body was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for autopsy, the police said. A police constable was killed in the Garden police station area on Tuesday night. He was identified as Iftikhar Beg. The bullet-riddled body of Mohammad Hanif, 45, was found in Orangi Extension. According to police, some unidentified persons kidnapped him on Tuesday night and subjected him to torture before shooting him down. Mohammad Sharif, 24, was found dead behind the Imambargah in Lines Area. Police said three persons had gone to his house, called him out and took him along with them. Later his body was found with bullet wounds on a mound behind the imambargah. According to police, the family of the victim had identified the suspects as Nasir, Shahid Abbas and Sajid. A bullet-riddled body was found in Nazimabad. Three people - Ishaq, Mohammad Aslam and Ishtiaq - were shot and wounded in Gulshan-i-Iqbal. DWS 950929 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Talks may be further delayed ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 28: New irritants developed on Thursday which may further delay the resumption of stalled talks between the government and the MQM. The irritants were the arrest of the brother-in-law of MQM chief Altaf Hussain and refusal by the police guard to let the MQM negotiating team to meet the hospitalised MPA, Rana Safdar, despite home secretary's written permission. Ajmal Dehlavi, the chief MQM negotiator, strongly protested over refusal by the police guard to allow the MQM negotiating team to meet Rana Safdar and termed these acts a "provocation" and said chief government negotiator N.D. Khan has been informed in writing. He said they were moving a privilege motion in the Sindh Assembly in this regard besides making a written complaint to the home secretary. DWS 950930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Altaf flays collective execution ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent LONDON, Sept 29: The latest killing of three Mohajir Qaumi Movement workers has been described by party chief Altaf Hussain as "a most heinous case of mass and collective execution by extra-judicial means". In a statement, he said in May 1994 five MQM workers were killed in identical manner by the law enforcement agencies in Sukkur. Mr Hussain said, "The killings deserve the harshest condemnation since this lays the foundation of utter lawlessness and chaos." He disputed the government version that one of the deceased - Ferozuddin - was killed in a police shoot-out in which two other MQM workers, Pervez Akhtar and Mohammad Ali, were also killed. He said Pervez was arrested on September 5 from his North Karachi house, while Mohammad Ali, of Liaquatabad, was arrested on September 26 from a marriage hall in Karimabad where he had gone to attend a wedding. He described as "preposterous" the official version put out about Pervez and said the three - Ferozuddin, Pervez and Mohammad Ali were all brought together on Thursday and killed at point-blank range. Mr Hussain said that Ferozuddin was arrested on September 19 and was, after a week's remand, produced before Qazi Mohammad Akbar, who presided the Special Terrorist Activity Court. The judges attention was drawn to the severe injuries which Ferozuddin had suffered during custody. "The court denied the government request for a personal remand of the detainee. But it appears that he was never sent to jail and was instead murdered." Judge Qazi Akbar was transferred by the government to Dadu, said Mr Hussain, "an action which deserves admonition" because he earned the administration's wrath. He appealed to the Bar bodies to voice concern at the manipulation of judicial system. DWS 950930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Workers killed in fake encounter: MQM ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 29: The MQM coordination committee on Friday alleged the police had killed Mohammad Ali and Ferozuddin, MQM workers, in a fake police encounter in New Karachi on Thursday. In a statement, the committee said: "The Nazimabad police had arrested Mohammad Ali him on Sept 24 at Afshan Palace, a marriage hall, in Karimabad. He was in police custody when killed. It alleged the police showed his arrest on Sept 26 and handed him over to the New Karachi police on Sept 28. In another statement, the MQM fact finding committee alleged the rangers and police had arrested Ferozuddin on Sept 18. The statement also mentioned the arrest of his two brothers and father. It alleged Feroz had been tortured from Sept 18 to 26 in police custody. The police produced him on Sept 24 before the Suppression of Terrorists Activities (STA) Court No.1. The FFC said the honourable judge after having examined marks of torture on the body of Feroz, refused further remand to police and sent him on judicial remand to jail. It alleged that contrary to the verdict of the court, the police took him to an unknown destination and tortured him for two days. The judge who gave the relief to Feroz, was transferred to Dadu. It alleged the police had killed him and two other MQM workers - Mohammad Ali and Pervez Akhtar - on Thursday night in Muslim Rajput Colony, New Karachi. In another statement, MQM Parliamentary Party Leader in Sindh Assembly Shoaib Bokhari alleged the police and rangers had arrested Pervez Akhtar on Sept 5 at his home in New Karachi. "The law enforcers kept him in Khwaja Ajmernagri police station for few days and after that handed him over to the rangers,". Mr Bokhari alleged Pervez, too, was killed in a fake police encounter on Sept 28 in New Karachi. In another statement, Kanwar Younus Khalid and Prof A. K. Shams, two detained members of the co-ordination committee, demanded of the government to release immediately Mohammad Aslam, the brother-in-law of MQM chief Altaf Hussain. Ishtiaq Azhar: The Convenor of MQM Co-ordination Committee, Senator Ishtiaq Azhar, has expressed concern over reports of torture on Qamar Mansoor in Adyala Jail, Rawalpindi. In a statement, he alleged Mr Mansoor had not yet been produced in any court after his arrest three months back and his one leg had been paralysed owing to torture in the jail while he was suffering from severe pain in the other. If he is not provided immediate medical aid, he may not be able to walk, he said. DWS 951001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Altaf's sister challenges husband's detention ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 30: A division Bench of the High Court of Sindh, comprising acting Chief Justice Abdul Hafeez Memon and Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, has issued notices to the advocate- general and the SHO of New Karachi on a petition filed by Saira Bano, sister of MQM chief Altaf Hussain, who has challenged the arrest and detention of her husband, Mohammad Aslam Ibrahim, an estate agency owner. Notices have been issued for Oct. 5. Mr Ibrahim, 50, was arrested by the Azizabad police and the Rangers on the midnight of Sept. 25 without any charge. He was arrested by the Azizabad police and the Rangers but notices were issued to the SHO of New Karachi, because the court was told that he had been shifted there. He has also not been allowed to meet anybody and that no case had been registered by the police against him. In custody he is being tortured and maltreated, the petition said. DWS 951001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Khan asks MQM to fix date, venue for talks ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Sept 30: The chief negotiator for the government side, N.D. Khan, on Saturday asked the MQM side to fix a time, date and venue for the 10th round of their talks. He said the MQM negotiators themselves had suspended the talks, and, therefore, it was up to them to propose the time, date and venue of the next round, Mr Khan said. The suspension of talks, he said, had not only reflected badly on the law and order situation but had also shattered the confidence of the people which had been gradually building up. DWS 951001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Protest strike today ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 30: The MQM co-ordination committee has called for a day of protest on Sunday to mourn the alleged killing by the rangers and the police of three of its activists in custody. The call was given on Saturday after nine people died in the day-long violence on Friday. The committee alleged that torture of MQM workers and supporters was rampant and part of a plan to exterminate the Mohajir community. It alleged that on Thursday night three detained activists of the MQM were killed in a fake encounter with the police. The MQM committee in its initial appeal had asked everyone, including journalists, to stay indoors to participate in the protest. However, when this question was raised with the chief MQM negotiator and editor of Amn, Ajmal Dehlavi, a clarification was issued by the co-ordination committee which said journalists should visit the affected areas and the families of those who were allegedly killed in fake encounters by the police and rangers. DWS 951002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dehlavi links resumption of talks to judicial probe ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Oct 1:The chief MQM negotiator, Ajmal Dehlavi, on Sunday made resumption of talks conditional on a judicial enquiry into the alleged killings of MQM activists in captivity and a positive reply to his letter addressed to his government opposite number. He was responding to the chief government negotiator N.D. Khans Saturday remarks in which he had asked the MQM team to fix a new date, venue and timing for the 10th round. No progress has been achieved in the negotiations because the government is not sincere said Mr Dehlavi adding: On the one hand the government is saying that it wants negotiations to succeed while on the other it has unleashed state terrorism. It is essential that this state terrorism against Mohajirs must come to an end , he emphasised. Mr Dehlavi alleged that the government was criticising strike calls by the MQM but it has never bothered to know the causes for these calls. He claimed that this year alone about 15,000 MQM supporters and activists had been killed, but in spite of repeated protests by the MQM none of the persons responsible for the deaths had been apprehended. DWS 951002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- MQM strike leaves 14 hurt in Hyderabad ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dawn Report HYDERABAD, Oct 1: Fourteen people were injured in Hyderabad during the strike called by the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) to protest against the custodial death of three of its activists in Karachi. Vehicular traffic in these cities remained affected while the twin cities of Hyderabad and Latifabad, and Mirpurkhas reverberated with the sound of gunfire and cracker explosions. In Hyderabad, pitched battles were fought between the personnel of law enforcement agencies and the youths with muffled faces. A powerful molotov cocktail exploded in Ghaziabad in which at least 12 people, including 11 children, were injured. They were admitted to the Liaquat Medical College Hospital. A pedestrian, Chaman Gul, received bullet injuries at Pacca Qilla. A yellow cab was set ablaze in Latifabad. ASI Masood Iqbal received bullet injuries in Mumtaz Colony where he had gone to arrest some wanted persons. Soon after the police entered the colony, they were attacked by the youth who got freed Malik Subhan and Malik Akbar from the police custody. The two had informed the police about the presence of the wanted men in the area. Police, however, arrested a man, Mohammad Ishaque. Station Road near Lady Dufferin Hospital became the battle ground where youth and the rangers exchanged fire. The Jamaat-i-Islami office located nearby was particularly targeted by the youth. As a result the building was damaged. Fire was also exchanged between the protesters and the law enforcement agencies at Seroghat and Goods Naka. The other affected areas were Al- Rahim Shopping Centre, Makki Shah Road, Sarfaraz Chari, Pacca Qilla and Shahi Bazaar. The injured included Waqar, 6; Sahib, 7; Waqar, 8; Saba, 5; Ufaq, 6; Umar, 7; Noman, 8; Ameer Ahmad, 17; Aijaz, 2; Samia, 6; Nasir, 6 and Jameela, 50. DWS 951002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- MQM team stays away from dinner ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Oct 1: The MQM delegation stayed away from the chief ministers dinner on Sunday during which a possibility of their meeting with the President was not being ruled out. A spokesman for the Chief Minister House claimed that a formal invitation to Mr Ajmal Dehlavi was delivered at his office on Sept 28, and that Mr Dehlavis contention that he had not received it was incorrect. However, the chief MQM negotiator repeated his assertion and denied having received any invitation. I have checked it with my office. No such invitation has been received here. I believe someone has tried to cook up things after reading the report, said Mr Dehlavi pointing to the facsimile of a receipt of the invitation card sent by the chief ministers spokesman. DWS 951003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Govt urges MQM to resume talks ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Oct 2: Chief government negotiator N. D. Khan on Monday once again urged the MQM to come to the negotiating table and said the conditions attached by his opposite number were aimed at wriggling out of the negotiating process. Making resumption of talks conditional is incomprehensible because the issues on which they have adopted this position are not substantive, said Mr Khan. Replying to a question, Mr Khan said he would respond to Mr Dehlavis letter in a day or two but emphasised that its content did not relate to substantive issues. I urge them not to put any condition and resume dialogue at any place and date of their convenience, he said. He also asked the MQM to refrain from strikes because they only brought miseries to the common man. Similarly, he said, the MQM should stop owning terrorists. DWS 951003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- UN approached against Altafs allegations ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Oct 2: In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali on Monday, Mohammad Yousuf, referred to MQM leader Altaf Hussains letter to the UN chief. Mr Hussain had written the letter alleging brutal and inhuman extra- judicial executions of the supporters of the MQM and the Mohajir nation by Pakistani government. The CMs advisor asserted that all Pakistanis enjoyed equal rights as citizens of a sovereign country. Having migrated to Pakistan, the Mohajirs also enjoy equal rights as citizens of Pakistan. However, he claimed that ethnic violence in Karachi started with the emergence of MQM in 1986. The violence was aimed against Pakhtoons and Punjabis and subsequently against Sindhis and Baloch. Then Mohajirs were pitted against Mohajirs. The advisor said Mr Hussain, from his cosy abode in London is not only promoting violence, militancy and terrorism, but is also unleashing massive, false propaganda to malign the government and state of Pakistan. He concluded that the Pakistan government is fully aware of its obligations to various human rights covenants, such as dignity of women, the right to a fair trial and observing the requisite norms of providing proper defence facility to any individual accused of any crime, according to the Constitution of Pakistan and international conventions. DWS 951003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- MQM man dies in custody ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Oct 2: An MQM activist died in police custody at a city hospital on Monday. Khursheed Anwar, 30, the police said, was arrested in Orangi Extension on Sept 21 on charge of possessing an unauthorised revolver. On Sept 25, he felt an acute pain in his kidney and was admitted to the Civil Hospital where he died on Monday, police said. The MQM, in a statement, alleged the police had arrested Khursheed on Sept 17 at his home and tortured him for a week at the Orangi Extension police station and later the police shifted him to hospital where he died. He was in charge of the MQM unit of Orangi Extension. DWS 951003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Karachi situation alarming : Gul urges MQM, govt to resume talks ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: Former chief of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt-Gen (retd) Hamid Gul has said that use of force and armed confrontation cannot lead to a political settlement of the crisis in Karachi. Talking to PPI in Rawalpindi on Monday, he suggested that the government should stop the Operation Clean-up and the MQM should end their agitation and resorting to strike. Mr Gul, urged both the government and the MQM to immediately resume the talks. He underscored the need for taking confidence-building measures by both the sides for the success of the negotiation. Both the government and the MQM should avoid issuing hostile statements against each other, he added. The former army general stressed the need for adopting sagacious political will to accept compromises without prejudices to the rational and just position of one or the other side. He called upon the government to pay attention to the MQM concern over their missing women workers and alleged custodial killings of their supporters. He said the situation in Karachi was rapidly deteriorating and it might soon be difficult to contain it with ordinary measures. The strife, he said, had all the potential for degenerating into a wider and more menacing conflict. He said there was an immediate need for political remedies, dousing of emotional fire and setting a stage for a lasting peace. DWS 951004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Altaf condemns killing of activists ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent LONDON, Oct 3: The killing of three MQM workers in the last 24 hours has been condemned by MQM leader Altaf Hussain, who said that since the visit to Karachi of the president the activities of the Haqiqi Group had increased. The Haqiqis and government agencies were blamed by him for the latest killings. He said Mukarram Ali Hashmi was murdered by assailants who entered his house on Monday. Another MQM worker, Khurshid Anwar, arrested on Sept 17, died because of torture inflicted on him at the Orangi detention centre. Shakil Ahmad was abducted under official supervision and was later killed in front of a police station. Mr Hussain criticised the president for not acting against the official repression. The MQM, he added, would be justified in using its right of strike as protest if the government continued with its repressive policies. The MQM leader in an earlier comment appreciated the role of the national opposition in the Senate in staging a walkout on Sunday as a show of concern over the situation in urban Sindh. DWS 951005 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Govt accepts some MQM demands ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mohammed Riaz KARACHI, Oct 4: Shazia Farooq, wife of late Farooq Dada, who had been arrested soon after the death of her husband and subsequently taken to Islamabad has been released, reliable sources said on Wednesday. The sources further said that the confiscated passport of Sheikh Liaquat Hussain, a member of the MQM negotiating team, would be handed over to him on Thursday and the police mobiles which had been withdrawn on Oct 2 would again be detailed for the security of MQM negotiators. Talking to Dawn, chief MQM negotiator Ajmal Dehlavi said he was informed about the release of Shazia Farooq on Wednesday night. Zuhair Akram Nadeem, MNA, and a member of the government negotiating team met the chief MQM negotiator Ajmal Dehlavi to inform him about the steps taken by the government to remove the irritants and ensure resumption of talks. After the meeting, Mr Dehlavi told newsmen he had made it clear that the MQMs decision to resume talks was linked to a positive reply from the chief government negotiator, N.D.Khan. Mr Nadeem reaffirming the governments desire to bring the talks to a positive conclusion said the reply would be delivered on Thursday. Mr Dehlavi said when the reply was received, his colleagues would go through its contents and decide whether to resume talks or not. Both sides, nevertheless, shared the perception that all issues could be resolved through negotiations and impasse in the talks was not in the interest of anyone. The MQM chief negotiator was also informed that no one named Raees Fatima was in government custody, but if she had been booked under some other name, efforts would be made to trace her. When Mr Dehlavi raised the question of permission for the negotiating team to meet the interned MPA, Qamar Mansoor, Mr Nadeem said this issue could be discussed during talks. He said that Mr Nadeem had assured him that there was no restriction on MQMs political activities and there would be no difficulties if any member of the negotiating team travelled abroad. Replying to a question Mr Dehlavi said he got the impression that the government was taking some steps that could lead to the resumption of talks. DWS 950929 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Brown Amendment clearance held up ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Sept 28: The Foreign Aid Bill, carrying among other appropriations the Brown Amendment favouring Pakistan and the US aid for Israel and Egypt, got stuck in the intermediary stage just because its manager introduced an unauthorised amendment opposing the Burmese military regime. Pakistani diplomats and lobbyists, waiting tensely for their amendment to clear the conference were shocked to learn that the Bill Manager had delayed the whole thing because of an amendment on Burma which had not been moved in the House. A senior Republican aide said: It violates all Senate rules of tradition and comity to surreptitiously insert an important amendment that does not have unanimous consent. Reports said Thursday disagreement broke out among Senate Republicans over the amendment slipped in by Mitch McConnell after the passage of the Bill. The amendment would withdraw the most-favoured nation trading status to any country that does not back sanctions against Burma. The Bill seeking a 10 per cent cut on all foreign aid, was passed by the Senate last week with a thumping majority of 91 to 9 but there was no amendment against the Burmese military government moved by any Senator. Hank Browns Amendment on Pakistan was the most debated subject of the Bill. After its passage the Bill was sent for reconciliation with the version passed by the House of Representatives and a conference of nominees of the two Houses was expected on Thursday or Friday. While Pakistanis were waiting for the conference to clear the Bill as it appears to have almost unanimous support, mostly because it contains the annual aid for Israel, the new hitch created by Mitch McConnel delayed matters. Reports said while floor managers of bills often insert amendments that have unanimous support, several lawmakers criticised Sen. Mitch McConnell for inserting an amendment, without unanimous backing, that could have huge repercussions. Several lawmakers said the Bill could, for instance, cut off Chinas most-favoured status because Beijing does not honour sanctions against Burma. After the Senate approved the Bill last Thursday, Sen. John McCain, a Republican high-up on foreign policy, took the Senate floor to attack the way the amendment on Burma was inserted. I was quite upset about it and thought it was highly inappropriate to do it, McCain said in an interview. I have a special concern about Burma 60 per cent of the heroin coming to the United States comes through that country and if there was an amendment on the issue, I wanted to be involved in the debate. Joining this unusual intra-party feud, Sen. William Roth, who is chairman of the Finance Committee, wrote a letter to McConnell expressing his great disappointment with the amendment. Roth complained not only that the provision involved matters that were the jurisdiction of his committee, but also that its call for withdrawing most-favoured-nation trading status would violate trade treaties. In an interview McConnell admitted he had inserted the amendment without a vote. In addition to calling for suspending trade privileges to countries that do not honour sanctions against Burma, McConnells amendment calls for banning travel to Burma, barring Burmese imports and withholding money to the IMF if it provides aid to Burma. DWS 950929 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Clinton backs Brown Amendment ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Sept 28: The Clinton Administration and Defence Secretary William Perry intervened on Thursday to put their weight behind the Brown Amendment which is waiting for its crucial test and final passage in the conference between nominees of the two Houses of Congress. In a letter sent to the leaders of the two parties, Perry reiterated his complete support for the Senate proposal to revise the Pressler Amendment.
DWS 950930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Brown Amendment clearance delayed by 10 days ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, Sept 29: The clearance of the Brown Amendment by the two Houses of US Congress has been delayed by at least 10 days. Pakistani sources said there were three reasons for the delay and none of it concerned Pakistan or any lack of support for the amendment which would release military equipment and lift economic sanctions on Pakistan. The reasons given by Pakistani sources include the lifting of the threat of a deadlock which would have brought the government to a halt on October 1. The Congress and the White House have agreed to a six- week extension of the budgetary allocations and so the deadline is no longer there. The second reason is said to be the differences within the Republican party on a number of issues which need to be reconciled between the Senate and the Lower House, though the Brown Amendment is not one of them. The rush in the Senate to pass 13 bills before the recess began on Friday has also helped Pakistan in some way - it has kept the angry Californian Senator Dianne Feinstein from moving her amendment to dilute the Brown Amendment. Feinstein wants to force a vote in the Senate, just as Brown did to amend the Pressler Amendment, to exclude the transfer of weapons to Pakistan but she still supports the lifting of economic sanctions and other provisions including the return of money for F-16s and other arms. Pakistani diplomats were worried that Feinstein may still make a last ditch effort on late Friday afternoon but no one was prepared to rate her chances of success as high. The delay in holding of the conference on the Foreign Operations Bill means at least 10 more days for Feinstein to lobby for her amendment because she thinks that the members of the House of Representatives could be persuaded not to agree to the arms transfer clause. The House, in its version, had approved only lifting of economic sanctions but the Senate added the transfer of 370 million dollars worth of arms and return of the money for the F-16s in its version. DWS 950929 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Brewery licence case hearing begins ------------------------------------------------------------------- H. A. Hamied KARACHI, Sept 28: Three constitutional petitions challenging the licence granted to the hotelier group of Avaris of Karachi for setting up a brewery came up for hearing before a division bench of the High Court of Sindh, comprising the acting Chief Justice, Justice Abdul Hafeez Memon and Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui of the High Court of Sindh on Thursday. The petitioners have challenged the authority of the provincial government of Sindh to grant the licence to Beach Brewery on the ground that such licence offends against constitutional provisions, Article 2-A, the Objectives Resolution and Article 31-H which enjoins upon the state to discourage sale and consumption of liquor. He said there was a complete lack of legislative competence authorising making of any law to permit manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor and thus the relevant law under which the license was granted to Beach Brewery. The only status of all these laws was that of sub-constitutional legislation, which is in direct conflict with the constitution itself, and hence have to give way to the overriding provisions of the Constitution which must prevail instead. DWS 950929 ------------------------------------------------------------------- India, Pakistan clash at UN ------------------------------------------------------------------- Masood Haider UNITED NATIONS, Sept 28: Enraged at Pakistan foreign ministers hard- hitting speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday accusing India of massive human rights violations in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir and not implementing the United Nations resolutions on the dispute, the Indian delegate launched a tirade against Pakistan. Exercising its right of reply, the Indian delegate, Nalin Surie, accused Pakistan of not abiding by the Security Councils resolutions by not withdrawing from Kashmiri territory it had forcibly occupied. Pakistan in its rebuttal said the Indian delegate was distorting the Security Councils resolution as the resolution had stipulated withdrawal of both countries forces simultaneously so that plebiscite could be held under the UN auspices. Pakistans chief delegate to the United Nations, Ahmad Kamal accused India of terrorising the Kashmiri population by using its massive army against the unarmed people. He also accused Indian intelligence agencies of masterminding the drama of hostage-taking by the so-called Al-Faran group, in order to somehow implicate Pakistan in the hostage-taking. Nalin Surie accused Pakistan of fomenting terrorism in the Indian held Kashmir and in Afghanistan asserting that Al-Faran and Taliban were being financed by Pakistan. He said the Charar Sharief shrine had been burnt down by a Pakistani mercenary, Must Gul, who had taken refuge in Pakistan. Responding to Pakistan foreign ministers assertion that India had embarked upon arms race in the sub-continent aimed against Pakistan, the Indians pointed out that the recent amendment in the Pressler law by the US Congress had given Pakistan more weaponry than ever before. DWS 950929 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Opposition criticises New City project ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: The National Assembly on Thursday witnessed a blistering attack by the opposition on the proposed Rs 111 billion, New Islamabad City Housing Project. Raising the matter through a Call Attention Notice, Khawaja Asif lead an opposition onslaught against the 10,000-acre project, dubbing it as the biggest scam of the century. Khawaja Asif started off by charging that the government had provided a bank guarantee worth US$ 50 million to the Singapore-based United Overseas Bank. He also accused the sponsors of siphoning off funds by sending the sale proceeds abroad. He questioned the authenticity of the participating firms of the project and asked the government to furnish details about the companies involved in this deal. Defending the government, Parliamentary Secretary for Housing and Works Altaf Bhayo refuted all charges levelled by Khawaja. The second shot of the salvo was fired by Ijaz Shafi who wanted to know the name of the firm with which the then chairman of National Housing Society had signed a US$ 500 million MoU in the presence of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Defending the government, Bhayo denied the signing of any such MoU. DWS 951001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Traders, police clash near IT office in Lahore ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report LAHORE, Sept 30: Running battles were fought between protesting traders and police on Saturday when they tried to prevent the protesters from going to the income tax office for a sit-in. The police repeatedly used teargas and batons on The Mall and nearby areas. The sit-in was planned by the traders as part of their agitation against new conditions for the filing of income tax returns for which Saturday was the last day. The current agitation has been organised by Anjuman-i- Tajiran, Punjab, which is supported by the PML, and has been going on in various forms since last week. Traffic in the whole area was disrupted because of the clashes and the protestors also smashed some private vehicles caught up in traffic jams on The Mall. Some passers-by were injured by stray brickbats. RETURNS FILED: Meanwhile, there was a great rush of taxpayers at the income tax office which remained open till midnight. A senior income tax official said a large number of people filed their returns on the last day. He claimed that those who had filed returns also included a number of traders. Contrary to the claims by leaders of the traders associations, a majority of the traders have filed their returns, he said. DWS 951001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No question of break-up of Sindh: Fazl ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 30: Maulana Fazlur Rahman, chief of the Jamiat Ulema-i- Islam and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, on Saturday expressed concern over the ongoing violence and said there is no question of the breakup of Sindh. He said, raising voice for the rights of the people is acceptable, but if there is a move for the separation of Sindh, the entire nation will defend this province like any other part of Pakistan. Addressing a news conference, the JUI leader while dealing with the situation in Karachi said instead of violence, talks to resolve all issues should be encouraged. The Maulana strongly criticised the role of police and said the confidence in Karachi police was lacking because those arrested were harassed and released only after extorting huge amount as bribe. DWS 951002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- People fed up with agitation: PM ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto responding to a question about the oppositions plan to launch agitation against the government, said the nation had been fed up with agitations and strikes. Whenever things start improving, Nawaz Sharif reaches Karachi, she remarked. The strike affects livelihood of the common man, not of Nawaz Sharif or Altaf Hussain, she added that the people of Karachi wanted an end to terrorism. Commenting on the recent strike she said police were taking three arrested MQM activists from one place to another when they had been killed in an attack by terrorists. The MQM wanted either to get these prisoners released or kill them, she said. To cover the killing of their own men they were holding strikes, she alleged. The prime minister asked the people not to vote for the people pursuing terrorism and help the government restore peace in Karachi. DWS 951003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- India may resort to war, fears Nasrullah ------------------------------------------------------------------- Athar Ali LONDON, Oct. 2: The United Nations credibility is at stake if it does not act now to move towards a resolution of the Kashmir problem. This was stated by Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan who is leading a delegation of Pakistani parliamentarians to lobby members of the British Parliament. Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan at a Press briefing, said that the risk of an armed conflict between India and Pakistan had increased because the Indian prime minister is to face election very soon. Having lost a number of state elections he might resort to the use of force against Pakistan in a desperate attempt to keep himself in power. The veteran Pakistani politician said his observation was based on the indications available to him, especially the increase in the number of troops deployed by India in held Kashmir. He said half of the total strength of the Indian Army was now stationed in Kashmir along the Line of Control. He said it was the moral responsibility of the UN to resolve the Kashmir conflict the core issue between India and Pakistan as soon as possible. DWS 951003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Iran denies sealing borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: Iran has not sealed its borders with Pakistan or Afghanistan but has intensified security to check movement of drug traffickers in the region, Iranian Ambassador in Islamabad Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh told a Press conference on Monday. Refuting reports that Iran has closed down its borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said Iranian authorities had dug five-feet wide and four-feet deep trenches in two different sectors, one with Afghanistan and other with Pakistan to restrict the trans-border movement of drug traffickers. Iran had spent over 200 million US dollars to establish better communication links between law enforcement agencies deputed at the eastern borders, he added. We believe if their is a political will we could easily check the menace of drug trafficking in the region, he said. He said Iran shared a common perception with Pakistan on the restoration of peace in Afghanistan. An integrated, stable and peaceful Afghanistan, he said, was in the best interest of the people of this region. DWS 951004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No compromise on principles, says Murtaza ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report LAHORE, Oct 3: PPP (Shaheed Bhutto group) Chairman Murtaza Bhutto has claimed that some unidentified people had resorted to indiscriminate firing outside Khakwani House, where he stays during his visits here. He told a Press conference on Tuesday night that the attackers had come in a white car and fired several shots, smashing his portrait put up on the road. He said the attackers did not try to enter the house. He did not blame anybody for the incident, but said it could be the work of his political opponents including the Asif Zardari group of the PPP. He said an FIR was registered with the police, but no one had been named in it. Mir Murtaza said he wanted removal of political differences with his sister Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, but he would not compromise on principles. He said rapprochement with the prime minister could only be on the basis of principles.
===================================================================BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
=================================================================== 950930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Present parity hurting economy ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Farrukh Saleem Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, the Federal Minister for Commerce, recently informed the press that a devaluation of the rupee was necessary to achieve the export target. The Central Bank, therefore, issued a rather terse statement the following day that says: A news item appearing in a section of the press, and attributed to the Federal Commerce Minister, has been brought to the attention of the Governor, SBP, for his comments. The Governor would like to clarify that he is not aware of any decision by the government to devalue the rupee and that the State Bank would continue to follow the policy of managed float. There should be no question in anybodys mind that as long as we are unable to improve our trade and current account deficits the rupee shall continue to follow the path of uninterrupted, persistent devaluation. The real question in this regards thus is the modality and the time frame. The Commerce Minister calls it slow devaluation of the rupee and the Governor euphemises it as managed float. The end result is most certainly a crawling Rs.-$ peg or a crawling devaluation. In the present situation where expectations of a devaluation[based essentially on negative fundamentals] have been built up by official as well as quasi-official sources most private sector economic participants are now facing a highly uncertain and a potentially volatile foreign exchange scenario. On the foreign front-while the official stated policy of the highest office in the land is to attract overseas investment to reignite the lagging economy-foreign investors are becoming increasingly hesitant of investing into rupee-denominated assets again in expectation of an imminent devaluation. Barring Securities International Limited has estimated that investors will move some $25 billion into developing countries courses in 1995, the third target inflow on record. The mere anticipation of a major devaluation in Pakistan is bound to keep all the $25 billion away from our stock markets; money that can prove to be a bonanza for our sinking markets. Uncertainty and volatility being the prime impediments in the growth of an economy, its time now that the entrepreneurial forces of this countrys private sector are released of the burden of both uncertainty and volatility. Our rupee has truly become overvalued and our official policy of gradual devaluation now poses a threat to our economy and has also become a major obstacle in the attraction of foreign capital. What is required is a good five per cent to 10 per cent one-time depreciation eventually followed by the usual crawling peg. DWS 950930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Renewed violence depresses stocks ------------------------------------------------------------------- STOCKS maintained a bearish outlook during the preceding week as a chain of renewed violence in the city kept investors at their toes. The Karachi Stock Exchange index of share prices, therefore, broke the barrier of 1,700 points for the second time during the last about six months and many analysts believe it could take breather around 1,600. It was last quoted at 1655.55 as compared to 1,725.32 a week earlier, reflecting the distinct weakness of the base shares despite a feeble weekend rally. All shares index also followed the same pattern falling form the peak level of 966.27 to around 950. The market capitalisation suffered a fresh contraction of about Rs. 12 billion over the week falling from Rs. 370 billion to Rs. 358 billion and dealers predicted it could move further down owing to city situation. Although there were more sellers than buyers as every one is looking for an opportunity to get out of the market at least for the near-term at until there is peace in the city, but the steep decline in prices over the last about eight months have left not many options before them to reach safe havens. Dealers said the market is faced with more bad news than good ones both from the law and order and political fronts and until there is a breather the possibility of a sustained recovery appeared to be remote. The rupee might not be devalued in a big way but persistent rumours are prompting a good bit of selling from the foreign investors. Chemicals and farm shares remained on the receiving-end all through under the lead of ICI Pakistan including its right shares, which it hit the years lowest level around Rs. 64. It was followed by Welcome Pakistan, Otsuka Pakistan, Engro Chemicals, but Ciba-Geigy was in exception, which posted a smart gain of Rs. 7 on active short-covering at the lower levels. A big fall in PSO featured the trading in the energy shares, which fell in unison under the lead of National Refinery, KESC, Pakistan Refinery and Ebrahim Energy. Hub-Power was massively traded amid erratic movements. Cement shares followed them as most of the leading among them suffered fresh pruning on renewed selling. Cherat rose modestly after the dividend but later reacted. Other losers were led by Zeal-Pakistan, Dandot and Pakland Cement. Auto shares were actively traded but mostly on the lower side, major losers among them being Atlas-Honda, Pak-Suzuki Motors, Indus Motors. Both PIAC and PTC vouchers in the transport sector were actively traded on news of enhanced earnings finally closing modestly higher. Synthetic shares were massively traded under the lead Dhan Fibre and Dewan Salman but latter received heavy battering, falling sharply lower. Insurance shares also followed the markets general trend, falling under the lead of ALICO, EFU, Dadabhoy and some others. Investment shares fell fractionally under the lead of modarabas, leasing shares but some of the bank shares managed to recover modestly under the lead of Bear Stearns, Al-Faysal Bank, KCB, and some others on stray covering purchases. Trading volume showed a sizable expansion at 68 million shares thanks to massive activities in most of the current favourites. Alternate bouts of buying and selling, however, the key-note of trading as nobody was inclined to take long positions owing to an uncertain future outlook. DWS 951001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- State Bank abolishes credit-deposit ratio ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 30: The State Bank of Pakistan abolished on Saturday the credit deposit ratio on banks as instrument to regulate private sector credit through market-based instruments such as open market operations. The press release was issued on Saturday afternoon by the Central Board of Directors of SBP which mentioned the abolition of deposit credit ratio describing it as last step towards the market based credit and monetary management. The credit plan for 1995-96 sets a limit of Rs 64.23 billion for the private sector as against Rs 66.32 billion credit availability to non- government sector. The original limit set for private sector credit plan for 1994-95 was Rs 44.60 billion but was revised to Rs 55.44 billion. Actual credit availability to private sector till June 22 last was Rs 49.16 billion but it abnormally expanded by Rs 17 billion in a week time to end up at Rs 66.32 billion on June 30 showing an excess of Rs 11 billion over revised target. All the requirements of productive sectors be it trade, industry or agriculture will be fully met within the prescribed limits of the credit plan, the Governor of State Bank of Pakistan, Dr Muhammad Yaqub said. Dr Yaqub conceded that inflation was getting out of control and there was no way left except enforcing a tight financial discipline which has also been accepted by the government. DWS 951003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bank security of power company encashed ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: The Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) has encashed a bank security of Rs30 million of a power company which failed to reach its financial close by the given time schedule. He said the bank security of the defaulter company was encashed on Sunday. Mr.Shahid Hasan said normally the PPIB would not extend the period for financial close except in cases where the company doubles its bank security. The cabinet has decided that an extension of three months will be given only to those companies which double their risk. DWS 951003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- World Bank invites Pakistan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Nasir Malick ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: Pakistan has been invited by the World Bank to make a presentation on its success story in attracting foreign investment in the power sector at its annual meeting on October 8, an official of the Private Power Structure Board (PPSB) said on Monday. Prime Ministers special adviser on power sector, Mr Shahid Hassan Khan, will make a presentation before the World Bank on behalf of Pakistan. He said Pakistan will specifically talk about its experience on the Hub Power Project, the biggest power generation project in the private sector in the world.
DWS
951004
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rupee loses 7 paisa more against $
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Oct 3: The rupee depreciated by another seven paisa against
the US dollar on Tuesday as the central bank adjusted its parity rate
in relation to foreign basket of currencies to keep it competitive on
the world financial markets.
The parity of the rupee was last lowered on September 24. While the
central bank sources termed the weekly downward readjustment as
technical corrections, currency dealers say these are creeping
devaluation of the rupee in a bid to boost exports.
Financial analysts said owing to successive downward revision since
July 1, the rupee has lost 66 paisa against the dollar and it is a
big loss for the first quarter of the new year. What is disturbing is
that the creeping devaluation could not boost export as it should
have.
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=================================================================== 950929 ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hum badla lengey" ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ardeshir Cowasjee A NEWS item in Dawn, Monday, September 25, was headed Work on Bagh-e- Ibne Qasim begins next month. It referred to the development of Karachis most prestigious park in Clifton, at a cost of some Rs 33 million, and ended with the sentence: All allotments, numbering more than 64, have been cancelled and structures bulldozed except the site of a highrise building owned by a doctor MNA from the interior of Sindh. The doctor MNA is none other than Dr Zulfikar Mirza, elected from Badin, and the highrise building, is none other than the infamous Costa Livina being built where it should not rise, within the bounds of the peoples park. That same day I went to the High Court of Sindh to hear justice Abdul Rahim Kazi pronounce the judgment in the case of the constitutional petition filed by the citizens of Karachi against the building of the highrise, Costa Livina. The concluding paragraph of the judgment was read out by the good judge: "n view of the above discussion, we dismiss this petition with no order as to costs. Consequently, other miscellaneous applications are also dismissed." The case having concluded, I am now free to write about it. I quote from my column of May 3, 1991: "Moving on to the seashore at Clifton, plot No. ST-15, Block 3, Scheme 5, designated as a park. Dr Zulfikar Mirza, son of Supreme Court Justice Zafar Hussain Mirza, and son-in-law of Qazi Abdul Majid Abid, managed, by means devious and methods illegal, to have this plot allotted to himself and also managed to secure by dubious methods and means, permission to raise a 14-storey highrise thereon. The allotment as well as the permission to build was subsequently cancelled. In the disposal of the appeal order cancelling the highrise, it is clearly stated that this plot was designated an ST type of plot and was originally intended for the construction of a revolving restaurant, similar in nature to the London Post Office tower. Now he is trying to persuade Jam to commit an illegality once again and to get the park land reallotted to himself. So far, the Jam has not bitten." In my column of May 22, 1992, concerning the adjoining amenity plot, ST-14, in the same park, I quoted what the then DG, KDA, Abu Shamim Arif, had written on the file in 1991: "The conversion of an amenity plot into residential/commercial will certainly be objected to by the public as they would be deprived of the facilities of amusement... and therefore it would not be desirable to allow such conversion. Furthermore, it would create unbearable strain on the already precarious water supply situation in the area." Chief Minister Jam, nevertheless, noted on the file: "Convert. Funfair Limited be allowed to convert Plot ST-14... into a unique Commercial Site worthy of its location." (Fortunately, the money demanded could not be paid, and this site within the park area, to this day, remains undisturbed and the allotment stands cancelled). But, before Jam died, early in 1992, for consideration received, he resurrected the 84 Karachi highrises, including Costa livina, that had been cancelled in August 1990. Some he revived even whilst lying on his deathbed. In June 1993, Dawn carried the builders advertisement selling Costa Livina to the public. The buyers of the shops and flats were promised, inter alia, a 24- hour potable water supply through their own desalination plants, uninterrupted supply of solar (electric) energy, their own gas generated power for air-conditioning all of which implicitly acknowledged the unavailability of water and power. The advertisement made no mention of the revolving restaurant. The plans submitted neither provided spaces for the advertised plants and generators, nor an engine room to house the machine for revolving the restaurant which the highrise builders claimed they would construct above the building. Here was yet another grand scam, duping the people, with the controlling authorities knowingly and willingly acquiescing. In July 1993, I again wrote on the subject. Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Shah had appointed a sub-committee to look into the matter of this and other highrises. It was concluded that in the case of plot ST-15, Costa Livina: What has been approved is a 15-storey building. This is in violation of the original notified scheme and the sanctioned layout plan. A highrise building cannot be built in a park, which is an amenity and much required open space. The subcommittee recommends that the building be not allowed to be built. Only an observation tower with a revolving restaurant perched thereon may be allowed to be built as originally intended. However, the weak-kneed Muzaffar could not enforce the decision of his own committee and the desecrators pushed ahead. A high officer of the KDA, whose travails will have to be covered in a separate column, was threatened by Dr Zulfikar. He was told: We are soon coming to power, and should you continue your opposition to the building of Costa Livina, hum badla lengey. Come to power they did, with a vengence. The cronies ganged up and incessantly harassed the upright officer. He chose to resign. The baddies will be unhappy to learn that this highly qualified man was given a scholarship to do his doctorate in the United States, and he is now GONE. Pakistan has lost yet another good engineer. At about the same time, at a friends house I ran into Dr Zulfikar, whom I had never met before. Costa Livina, of course, came up. I presented the peoples point of view, telling him exactly what I thought of him and his gang of land-grabbers. He flared up. I will fix you, he said menacingly. Our dialogue ended with my reminding him that there was no shortage of his type around, and that I had the misfortune of knowing the original fix who now lies possessed of a mere six feet by two feet of desert soil. Costa Livina then started digging. Conferring with my friend, at that time as now once more plain citizen Mahmoud Haroon, we along with ten others filed a constitutional petition in the High Court. It was heard on December 20, 1993, by Justices Imam Ali Kazi and Ahmed Yar Khan. An ex-parte interim stay was granted. The parties were later heard and the stay was confirmed in 1994 by Justices Mamoon Kazi and Nazim Hassain Siddiqui. (People do now indeed miss these two Kazis, and the third considerate Kazi, Justice Akhtar Ali). In September 1995, the petition was heard by Justices Abdul Rahman Kazi and Abdul Latif Qureshi. The citizens lawyer, Barrister Mohammed Gilbert Naim-ur-Rahman, pleaded in an empty court. The KDA/KMC/KBCA and the government lawyers did not even bother to appear. My good old friend Ghulam Hussain Abbasi, another former Dingoman, who appeared for Dr Zulfikar and family, turned up spasmodically. On one occasion he nonchalantly announced to the court that his presence was not necessary as Gilbert was reciting the telephone directory. On September 25 the petition was dismissed. Now, whilst in one court the dictates of the environment were being disregarded, in another court in the same building they were being upheld. On September 20, 1995, the erudite Justice Dr Ghous Mohammed, an environmentally friendly judge of the Sindh High Court, presiding over yet another highrise case, dismissed the petition filed by the highrise builders wanting to build, and wrote in his judgment: The action of the government in demanding NOCs (no objection certificates for utilities and services) could neither be said to be unlawful nor unreasonable. It would be pertinent to observe that one of the prime duties of every government is to ensure the requisite provision of water, sewerage, a pollution-free environment, etc, without which any residential project will not only be incomplete but will also add to the magnitude of the problems of the residents of any area or locality. As such, it will be in the public interest not to permit any residential scheme to assume a size and dimension which is in flagrant disregard of the availability of utilities. One certainly notices that the mushroom growth of highrise buildings in Karachi, predominantly motivated by commercial considerations, without being equipped with necessary amenities has intensified the ever gowing miseries of the urban population. So, all is not lost. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Can we afford to disagree with Edmund Burke? DWS 950930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- How Karachi killings cast their shadow over the economy ------------------------------------------------------------------- Jafar Wafa Some of the economic detriments at the national level and Karachis deprivation of new investments by foreign countries, due to continued disturbances in the country. The intention is to draw attention of the intelligentsia to prevailing economic situation. The random list of our economic woes begins and ends thus: A big shortfall of 20 per cent against the export target has occurred during the first two months of the current fiscal year because of disturbances in Karachi. Receipt of the third trench of $300 million from the alienated IMF is no where in sight, because the government has reneged on its pledged implementation of the structural adjustments suggested by the international monetary body. Its end result will be further curtailment in the expected availability of foreign exchange to take care of imports that are inescapably necessary. The countrys forex reserve has depleted by $711 million during the last two months, as a result of less export earnings, unavoidable payments remaining the same. MOUs worth $22 billion signed by prospective foreign investors are nowhere near financial closure. Out of the only two MOUs signed in Malaysia, one was in respect of a palm oil refinery at Port Qasim that falls within the dreaded precincts of metropolitan Karachi (the other MoU just held out a vain hope of NESPAK of N.C.C. being offered some kind of participation in the construction of low-cost houses in Malaysia). As sure as day follows night, no foreigner in his senses will rush in when local entrepreneurs are closing shop in Karachi and shifting upcountry or outside the country. DWS 950930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Levels of maturity ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Mazdak NEWS of the passage of the Brown Amendment has been met with a deafening silence from the opposition, despite its far-reaching implications for Pakistan. Undoing the Pressler Amendment has been a high priority with this government, and one pursued with single-minded determination by the Prime Minister, our embassy and our lobbyists in Washington. While the Brown Amendment has not completely rolled Pressler back, it does envisage the release of arms worth 380 million dollars we have already paid. When an earlier version of the Brown Amendment was filibustered, many pundits here and in Washington were convinced that this was the end of the matter. In this events, Pakistans lobbying efforts have proved remarkably effective, and even this governments critics should find it possible to rise above partisan politics and give credit where it is due. The point of this column is not so much to highlight a foreign policy triumph as to underline the intensity of the polarisation. Even when the government of the day succeeds in doing something that is clearly good for the whole nation, the opposition is incapable of rising above petty politics and saying a good word about the ruling party. Unfortunately, there is simply no tradition of building a bipartisan consensus on even the most vital national issues. Every act of omission and commission by the ruling party is grist to the oppositions propaganda mill. No attempt is ever made by either side to overcome their differences for the sake of national unity, at least on key areas of Pakistans security. While setbacks are pounced upon gleefully, successes are studiously ignored, if not devalued. By failing to evolve a consensus on anything, and using every issue as ammunition in their bitter warfare, both major political groupings have ensured that the rest of us do not take politicians seriously. There is no reason why, given a modicum of goodwill, a degree of maturity cannot be injected into the system. All politicians have a vested interest in preserving and running democracy. The first thing that needs to be done is to agree that whoever wins a general election should be allowed to complete his or her term. Easier said than done, I know, but this is the essential first step. Rule number two should list a number of security-related issues on which there is a national consensus, but which are still exploited by politicians for their short-term gain. Rule number three has to do with using the power of the state to fix political opponents. These strong-arm tactics invariably and understandably cause bitterness and poison the political atmosphere. In short, we must stop personalising politics to the extent that we do. All this may be a long distance from Washington and the Brown Amendment, but there is a lesson to be learnt from the vote in the US Senate: the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton was able to muster enough support from a majority of Republican senators to ensure passage of a controversial bill because it was perceived to be in the national interest of the United States. When will our lota legislators reach this level of maturity? DWS 951002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Islamabad diary : The unholy fixation with foreign policy ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ayaz Amir WHY does the Islamic Republic so woefully lack a sense of proportion about the issues which arise in its meandering and erratic path towards the light? Why is it swept by a tidal wave of euphoria at the slightest success won by its diplomatic arms? Amidst the frenzied back-slapping and mutual congratulations which have erupted after the passage of the Brown amendment in the US Senate, these are not irrelevant question to ask. The Brown amendment is a modest diplomatic victory. Even though it has still some milestones to cross before it bears fruition and even though, when fully consummated, it will amount to a one-time waiver which will not bring American largesse flowing into the Republics deplete coffers, it is a blow to the mischief of the Pressler amendment. But at the same time it is not a Himalayan triumph, or a second Congress of Vienna, which will make rivers of milk flow towards the parched lands of the Republic. The euphoria over the Brown amendment, however, reflects not merely the emotional side of the Pakistani temperament or the natural desire of an incompetent government like Ms Bhuttos to derive the maximum propaganda benefit from a success that has come its way. It also points to a deeper malaise signified by the conviction of the Pakistani establishment something embedded deeply in its consciousness that foreign policy triumphs are substitutes for domestic failures. Pakistan faces many external problems the list of which is known to any reasonably educated citizen. It also faces many domestic problems. But if a balance sheet was drawn up of the two, it would be clear to the meanest intelligence that the complexity of the ills plaguing Pakistan from within by far outweigh the subtlety of what it faces without. If the above be accepted it follows that our finest energies should be expended in cleaning the stables of our domestic troubles. But that has never been the direction of national policy because since the birth of Pakistan its decision-makers, a sad lot for the most part, have been obsessed with the notion of cutting a figure on the world stage and with the desire to buttress the countrys foreign alliances while remaining oblivious of the circumstance that Pakistans fragility as a nation-state is connected with its internal problems. If a quarter of the intelligence, skill and single-mindedness that has gone into the conception or making of our foreign policy had gone into an appraisal of the home-grown sources of our discontent, the nation today would both have been prouder of its past and less hemmed in by its present difficulties. At this point a short recapitulation of past foreign policy triumphs is in order. During the fifties when Pakistan sought comfort and security within the bosom of CENTO and SEATO, the defence alliances which were meant to hold back the advancing tide of world communism, it was the favoured recipient of American arms and economic assistance. *From the mid-sixties till the end of the seventies our relations with the US deteriorated, this necessitating the search for fresh sources of material assistance and psychological support. Thus was laid the foundation of our burgeoning relationship with the Peoples Republic of China. Then came the eighties, when because of the strife in Afghanistan, Pak-US ties recaptured, if only for a brief interregnum, their earlier glow. Once the catalyst of Afghanistan lost its importance as a focus of American global concerns, our relations with the US reverted to the pattern of the seventies when American indifference, even if of a benign order, was matched by the feeling in the ruling circles of Pakistan that their country had been used and then discarded. The high points of our American connection, during the fifties and eighties, no doubt brought many advantages in their wake. Not only did our armed forces have an assured source of supply and our economy a ballast which brought it easy money. The American connection also fulfilled a psychological need by shoring up the confidence of an insecure elite. But while all these undoubtedly useful and necessary functions were fulfilled, the point to consider is that the permissiveness of our ties with the US neither resolved nor even mitigated our internal problems. After the high point of the fifties we entered into a war with India in 1965 for reasons which were not clear then and which appear more bizarre with the passage of time. A few years later the country was overwhelmed by a crisis which resulted in a military defeat at the hands of India and the amputation of East Pakistan. The lessons of these traumatic events are clear. Not only that American largesse could not buy Pakistan long-term and lasting security. More importantly, the American embrace did not automatically guarantee wisdom and vision (the qualities Pakistan has stood most in need of) to our rulers and our governing class. Nor did matters stand much differently after the eighties. The Zia regime acquired strength at home and legitimacy abroad when the American connection was revived as a result of events in Afghanistan. But for all the billions of dollars of military and economic assistance which came into Pakistan during that halcyon period, is Pakistan a better place to live in today and less beset by problems than it was before? If anything, the legacy of that period continues to haunt the country. The arms with which the country is awash and the growth of the narcotics trade date from Pakistans involvement in Afghanistan. It is true that the Soviet intervention left Pakistan with little choice except to help the Afghan resistance. But if Pakistan had not allowed itself to become such a willing tool in American hands it might have pursued options less calculated to harm its long-term interests. There can be no question about it that it would be foolish for Pakistan as indeed for any other country to follow a policy of needless hostility towards the United States. No interest of Pakistan is served by such a self-defeating course. But, at the same time, Pakistan needs to liberate itself from that mental frame which leads it to think, often mindlessly, that its salvation lies in an over- weening dependence on a distant power. Pakistans real problems those which cast a shadow on its future are primarily internal. Among these the most important are the need to establish the rule of law and deliver a decent and fair deal to the majority of its citizens. The time for national back-slapping will truly arrive when these problems (when and how, I have not the slightest idea) begin to be addressed.
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=================================================================== 950929 ------------------------------------------------------------------- India's hockey challenge quenched by Pakistan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sydney Friskin BERLIN, Sept 28: Pakistans spirits were revived in the 17th Champions Trophy hockey tournament here on Thursday with a hard-earned 2-1 victory over their traditional rivals, India and are now braced for the final game in the round-robin series against Germany on Saturday. Shahbaz Ahmed regained his touch and scored both goals for Pakistan who took the field at full strength with both Tahir Zaman and Mohammad Shahbaz in the forward line and Junaid at left half. While not establishing clear mastery Pakistan deserved their win on the grounds of being more imaginative. They earned six penalty corners only one of which was converted. India had three of these awards. The teams had not met since 1991 at Ipoh where, on the way to winning the Sultan Azlan Shah Tournament, India had defeated Pakistan 1-0. This was altogether the 75th meeting between the two sides and the tally now stands at 35 victories to Pakistan, 25 to India with 15 matches drawn. By the end of the first half Pakistan, having shown more enterprise, were comfortably launched with a 2-0 lead. Pakistan caused the first thrill of the match as early as the fourth minute when Akmal Sikander fought his way into the circle and released a rising shot which the Indian goalkeeper Subbaiah saved comfortably. India retaliated with close passing movements between Dhanraj Pillay and Mukesh Kumar but neither player was able to position himself for a shot. A tranquil period was suddenly superseded by a flash of brilliance which led to Pakistans first goal. Shahbaz, picking the ball off the stick of Harpreet Singh, slipped past the two Indian fullbacks, Anil Aldrin and Rajnish Mishra, and released a reverse stick shot that landed with great force against the back board having given the goalkeeper no chance of saving. So, in 11 minutes Pakistan were a goal up and seemed to have put themselves right with the world. With the Indian defence still recovering from the shock Harpreet Singh conceded a penalty corner for obstruction. Naveed Alam took a shot but the umpire negatived the award for faulty stopping. Dhanraj Pillay once again struck up a good combination with Mukesh Kumar but as before they could not penetrate deep enough. In the 22nd minute the second short corner awarded to Pakistan for obstruction led to the second goal. The Indian goalkeeper came out of his charge expecting the shot by Naveed to come straight at him. But Junaid cleverly slipped the ball to the right of the circle where Shahbaz snapped it up and scored into an empty goal. After Pakistan had squandered a short corner in the 27th minute India made progress on the left of the field and Shakeel Ahmad, coming in along the line on the left, forced a short corner which came to nothing. Just before the half-time whistle a centre from the right by Atif Bashir was kicked away by the Indian goalkeeper. India started the second half in a sensational fashion with a goal that brought the game back to life. Dhanraj Pillay, travelling fast on the right dispatched a centre into the circle where the ball, which rose off a stick, was volleyed into the goal by the outside left Gavin Ferreira. India failed to take advantage of a penalty corner awarded soon after and the pace of the game quickened, each side making deep inroads into the others defence. Finally, India lost their last chance of saving the match when Anil Aldrin missed the target from a short corner. It was not a spectacular match but both sides played their hearts out. The damp pitch which had absorbed a lot of rain might have accounted for the lack of pace. Teams: PAKISTAN: Mansoor Ahmad, Naveed Alam, Rana Mujahid, Mohammad Usman, Irfan Mahmood, Mohammad Shafqat, Atif Bashir, Tahir Zaman, Akmal Sikander, Shahbaz Ahmad (capt), Mohammad Shahbaz. INDIA: Anja Subbaiah, Anil Aldrin, Rajnish Mishra, Harpreet Singh, Sandeep Somesh, Shakeel Ahmed (captain), Mukesh Kumar, Riaz Nabi, Dhanraj Pillay, E. Mascarenhas, G. Ferreira. UMPIRES: R. Wolter (Germany) and P.Elders (Holland). DWS 950929 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan, Sri Lanka meet in one-dayer today ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ilyas Beg LAHORE, Sept 28: The first of the three limited-over internationals between Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be played at the newly-laid pitch and re-laid ground of the Municipal Stadium, Gujranwala on Friday. The Sri Lankans are hot favourites to win the match as they are one of the best fielding sides in the game. This aspect plays very important role in a limited-over game. The morale of the Sri Lanka team is very high after its resounding victory in the Test rubber against Pakistan. Sri Lanka side has been re-furbished by the inclusion of the specialist wicketkeeper Kaluvirathana, fine all- rounder Kalpage and Eric Upashanth. They arrived in Pakistan on Monday last to replace the wicketkeeper Dunusighe and two substitute players Jayanth Silva and Samaravera, who have been sent back home after the Test series. The Pakistan team has been strengthened by the inclusion of the great all-rounder Wasim Akram, whose lethal bowling at Peshawar had helped the home team register a thumping victory in the first Test by an innings. He had to sit out of the two Tests which Pakistan lost at Faisalabad and Sialkot due to recurrence of trouble to his functional shoulder. The under-prepared pitch at Gujranwala may also prove a nightmare for the Pakistani batsmen. The Pakistan team also has established stroke-players like Inzamamul Haq, Wasim Akram, Aamir Sohail, Saeed Anwar, Moin Khan and Captain Ramiz Raja. All in all, a very fine match is the offing. If the World Cup champion, Pakistan team comes out of the shadows of the harrowing defeat in Test series, it can beat the Sri Lanka team at Gujranwala. DWS 950930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan seize victory in 1st one-day against Lanka ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ilyas Beg GUJRANWALA, Sept 29: Pakistan registered a facile nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the three-match international series on Friday at the Municipal Stadium here due to an enterprising century for no out on his debut by young opener Saleem Elahi. Set a target of 234 runs for victory, Pakistan coasted home with the loss of only one wicket of the other opener Aamir Sohail, who hit a fine knock of 77 runs to lay a solid foundation of Pakistan innings. Both put on 156 runs on 201 deliveries for the first wicket partnership. A strong holiday crowd jampacking the stadium, enjoyed the feast of cricket and cheered every good stroke what the speak of the centuries by Captain Arjuna Ranatunga and Saleem Elahi. Helped by very fine batting by Captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who hit an attractive knock of 102 not out, and a half-century by Asnka, Gurusinha, the Sri Lanka team managed to score 233 in the morning on this slow and dead pitch. Both put of 137 runs in 178 balls for the fourth wicket partnership. Pakistan team, demoralised due to loss of Test rubber to Sri Lanka only a couple of days ago, did not show any sort of nervousness or anxiety and marched on course to victory without much ado. Both the openers Aamir Sohail and Saleem Elahi scored 156 runs for the first wicket partnership in 201 balls to pave the way of a hands down victory. When Aamir Sohail got out, caught by Muralitharan (substituting for Ranatunga) in the covers off Jayasuriya for his personal score of 77, Pakistan team was on course to win. Aamir Sohail played some fine drives, cuts and sweeps in his attractive knock. He hit eight elegant boundaries, stayed at the crease for 151 minute and played 97 balls. Saleem Elahi found another good partner in Captain Ramiz Raja. Both added 78 runs on 65 balls for the second wicket stand without being separated Ramiz Raja scored 44 runs in 47 minutes, facing 37 balls and hitting four boundaries and a huge six over the bowler Dharamasenas head. However, the most belligerent knock of the day was played by the debutante Saleem Elahi. Saleem Elahi came out of his crease to hoist Wickremasinghe over his head to complete his century. This stroke showed his confidence and guts. He played some marvellous strokes. Saleem Elahi hit one six and seven boundaries in his marathon stay of 200 minutes at the crease in which he played 103 balls. Ramiz stroked Pushpakumaras delivery for two runs to take his score to 44 and Pakistans total to winning figure of 234. It was a win which should uplift the sagging morale of the Pakistan team and make the remaining two one-dayers at Faisalabad (October 1) Rawalpindi (Oct 3) well- contested and more absorbing. Sri Lanka scored a respectable total of 233 for five in the stipulated 50 overs after Captain Ramiz Raja won the toss and put the visitors in to bat. Captain Arjuna Ranatunga hit a fine, unbeaten century (102) to take the Sri Lanka team to a good score at the dead pitch of the Municipal Stadium, Gujranwala. His was a responsible knock studded with nine boundaries. Arjuna Ranatunga flick the fourth delivery of the last over of the innings sent down by Aqib Javed to deep fine leg to take two score and complete his century. He hit nine elegant fours. He stayed at the crease for 151 minutes and faced 112 balls. Arjuna Ranatunga and Gurusinha added very fine 137 runs for the fourth wicket partnership to strengthen the Sri Lanka innings. Both consumed 178 balls. The stand was finally broken by spaceman Mohammad Akram, making his one-day international debut. He had Asanka Gurusinha hit three fours in his stay of 142 minutes at the wicket in which he played 104 balls. Sri Lanka lost its first wicket in the morning at the total of 32. Roshan Mahanama (12) was run out by an under-arm direct through from Ramiz Raja from the mid on position. The other opener Sanath Jayasuriya scored only 25 runs before he was caught at coverpoint by Basit Ali off the delivery of spaceman Ataur Rehman. Jayasuriya scored 25 runs with the help of three fours and a six. He stayed at the crease for 46 minutes and played 31 deliveries. The second wicket fell at the total of 39. Aravinda de Silva could not also last long. After scoring only one run, Aravinda de Silva tried to flick a delivery from Ataur Rehman and was caught by Saqlain Mushtaq at deep mid on. Then followed the rescure act by Arjuna Ranatunga and Gurusinha. The wicketkeeper Kaluvitharana could contribute only six runs before being run out at the Sri Lankan total of 206 by a direct throw from Aamir Sohail. Both Arjuna Rantunga and Hashan Tillekaratn took the total to 233 without being separated. Saleem Elahi, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mohammad Akram made one-day international debut in this match. The 12th man was Zahid Fazzal. Sri Lanka team brought in Romeish Kaluvitharana, Ruwan Kalpage and Pushpakumara. Chaminda Vaas Could not play due to his injury. Miralidharan was replaced by Kalpage. DWS 951002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sri Lanka win one-dayer at Faisalabad, level series ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ilyas Beg FAISALABAD, Oct 1: Pakistani batting failed once again on the easy- paced pitch of Iqbal Stadium here and that helped Sri Lanka level the 3-match one-day international series one-all by dint of a creditable 49-run victory in the second game on Sunday. After going down by a wide margin of 144 runs at the Municipal Stadium, Gujranwala, only two days ago, the Sri Lanka side learnt from its mistakes, braced up its bowling, fielding and batting and handed down a defeat to the home team at Faisalabad to come back into the series. The third and decisive match of the series will be played at Rawalpindi on Oct 3 (Tuesday). That will also wind up the tour from Pearl Islands. Nothing went right for the Pakistan team in this match. When Captain Ramiz Raja won the toss and put the Sri Lankan team in to bat, the visiting team put up a very good score of 257 for 7 in 50 overs, mainly due to fine half-centuries by Asanka Gurusinha (66) and Sanath Jayasuriya (51). Ataur Rehman and Mohammad Akram took two wickets each, conceding 48 and 46 runs respectively. Arshad Khan got one wicket for 32 runs. A remarkable stand of 109 runs for the third wicket between Gurusinha and Aravinda de Silva brought Sri Lanka in a position of strength. Pakistani batting floundered on this dead pitch once again inexplicably. Only young opener Saleem Elahi played a sensible and daring knock of 47 before being run out in an unfortunate manner. The seasoned batsmen put up a miserable show. Captain Ramiz Raja (33), Moin Khan (31), Inzamamul Haq (14) and Basit Ali (19) fell to bad strokes after being well-set. The Pakistani innings was off to a disastrous start on Sunday. In the second over, Aamir Sohail (9 with 2 fours) mistimed a delivery from paceman Chaminda Vaas and was well-caught by Muralitharan at point. Saleem Elahi and Ramiz Raja batted with commensurate ease and added 79 runs on 107 deliveries. That was the only happy period of the Pakistani batting. After hitting a confident knock of 47, Saleem Elahi run out while stealing the second run. He dived full length and even reached the crease but since his bat was in the air, the TV umpire Taufique Khan ruled him run out. The second wicket fell at 89. Thereafter Pakistan team crashed to 208 for 8 in the stipulated 50 overs. Ramiz Raja was batting well at his personal score of 33, when he was brilliantly caught by Jayasuriya at deep mid-wicket off Dharamasena. The fielder, with his eyes on the ball, ran forward and then side-ways to hold a good diving catch. Ramiz hit three fours in his stay of 80 minutes at the wicket in which he faced 50 balls. The third wicket fell at the total of 92. At the total of 116, Inzamamul Haq was caught at long on by Gurusinha off Jayasuriya. He struggled for 38 minutes for his 14 runs and did not look in his elements. Promoted in the batting order, Moin Khan started off in his usual style and scored good 31 runs. He was caught by Kalpage, substituting for Mahanama, at the long on boundary off the delivery of Muralitharan while trying a big hit. He played 41 balls in his stay of 62 minutes at the wicket in which he hit two boundaries. Basit Ali played the most insipid knock of his career. He scored 16 laborious runs before being bowled by Jayasuriya while attempting to sweep the delivery of the left-hander. After his dismissal the hopes of a Pakistani win vanished. Aamir Hanif (19 with one four) and Aqib Javed (21 with one boundary) were bowled by Aravinda de Silva in the last overs. Pakistan team fell to ignominious defeat by 41 runs. Sri Lanka side hit a reasonably good score of 257 for seven in the stipulated 50 overs in the morning session. Captain Ramiz Raja won the toss and put the visiting team in to bat on an easy-paced pitch. Asanka Gurusinha (66) and the opener Sanath Jayasuriya (51) hit fast half-centuries to help Sri Lanka put up a good score. Aravinda de Silva (47) and opener Roshan Mahanama (30) chipped in with some useful knocks to contribute handsomely to their teams total. Asanka Gurusinha and Aravinda de Silva were involved in the best partnership of the best partnership of the innings. Both added 109 runs for the third wicket stand on 106 deliveries. While attempting to lift off-spinner Arshad Khan over his head, Gurusinha was beaten by the delivery and smartly stumped by wicketkeeper Moin Khan. That was the only wicket claimed by Arshad Khan who broke the stubborn partnership. When Gurusinha scored 54 runs, he completed his three thousand runs in one-day international matches. Both the openers Roshan Mahanama and Sanath Jayasuriya laid a good foundation of the Sri Lanka innings by scoring 75 runs for the first wicket partnership. Captain Ramiz Raja dropped Jayasuriya at mid on when the opener had scored only ten runs. He put both hands to the ball but could not hold on to it. It was a sad miss and the bowler who suffered was paceman Mohammad Akram. Jayasuriya played some elegant shots after that. The first wicket partnership was broken by paceman Ataur Rehman. The other opener Mahanama missed a ball from Ataur Rehman, was hit on the backfoot and umpire Mohammad Siddique Khan raised his finger without any hesitation. Gurusinha and Jayasuriya took the Sri Lankan total to 100 when the latter was caught by Aqib Javed of Ataur Rehman at the deep third-man position. Jayasuriya went for a big hit, but the ball ballooned from the top edge of his bat and Aqib held a well-judged catch. Jayasuriya hit some attractive strokes. His drives, cuts and pulls were enjoyed by a good crowd of over ten thousand. Jayasuriya stayed at the crease for 109 minutes, played 72 balls and hit four boundaries. Gurusinha and Arvinda de Silva were involved in very productive partnership for the third wicket. Both were not afraid on hitting their shots. Had the partnership prolonged, the Sri Lankan side would have hit a huge total on this wicket. Gurusinha, on reaching 54, completed 3000 score in one-day international matches. It was his 112th match. Gurusinha hit the finest knock for Sri Lanka. His 66 runs included a huge six and five elegant boundaries. The highest individual score among the visitors was hit on 73 balls and in 99 minutes. Arvinda de Silva also batted with confidence and scored 47 runs At the Sri Lankan total of 222, Arvinda de Silva was brilliantly run out by burly Inzamamul Haq. The fielder dived full length to stop a hit and threw the stumps with a direct throw while lying on the ground with Arvinda failing to reach his crease. The TV umpire Taufique Khan ruled him out. Arvinda hit four fours, played for 84 minutes and faced 54 deliveries. Three quick wickets fell in the last stages of the innings which dropped down the run-rate. Captain Arjuna Ranatunga could not bat well in this innings. At the total of 232, Arjuna Ranatunga was clean bowled by Muhammad Akram. He went back to play an incoming delivery and was bowled through the gates. Ranatunga contributed only 15 runs. Romesh Kalwvirathana and Tillekaratne were throwing their bats at every delivery in the last overs. After scoring only eleven runs, Kaluwirathana was run out by an amazing direct throw by Ataur Rehman *from long on boundary. The sixth wicket fell as 256. At the same score, Hashan Tillekeratna was bowled by Mohammad Akram in the last over of the innings. Kumara Dharamasena remained not out at one and at the conclusion of the Sri Lankan innings the team had scored 257. Only one change was made in the Pakistan team. Off-spinner Arshad Khan replaced the injured Saqlain Mushtaq. Two changes were made in the Sri Lanka side. Kalpage was replaced by Muttiah Muralidharan while Chaminda Vass came in place of Pushpakumara. DWS 951002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan put out Holland, earn bronze ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sydney Friskin BERLIN, Oct 1: Pakistan put aside their injury worries and left the 17th Champions Trophy hockey tournament with the bronze medal in their possession after a 2-1 victory over Holland in the play-off. It was sweet revenge for Pakistan who were beaten 2-0 by the Dutch in the round-robin series and they fought tooth and nail to achieve it. Early in the second half he came into violent collision with the Dutch defender Sander van Heeswick and retired to the sideline for attention. Judged by the anguish shown by Shahbaz a couple of teeth might have been damaged but he soon came back into the fray. Pakistan took the field without Tahir Zaman bringing on Mohammad Nadeem as a substitute. Not only did he fit well into the forward line but he also scored the winning goal. Danish Kaleem lined up at full back for his first game of the tournament. The match itself got away to a sensational start with Holland scoring in the second minute. Their outside left Remco van Wijk came in sharply and scooped the ball over Mansoor Ahmads head into the goal. He probably thought that this was the only way to beat him. There followed a long period of even play in which Pakistan came into the circle a couple of times but were denied shots at goal. However, Pakistans frustration ended in the 31st minute when Naveed Alam converted a penalty corner with a beautiful shot along the ground for his third goal of the tournament. The second half started on a quiet note but there was a green card for the Dutch goalkeeper Ronald Jansen for dissent. When the dust settled, a rather casual free hit from the left of the circle by Nadeem went astray. The physical aspect of the game then began to show with the first collision between van Heeswijk and Junaid. Play restarted with a free hit from Junaid to Shahbaz who was immediately surrounded by four Dutch players who barred his way to goal. Shahbaz, after his collision with van Heeswijk, left the field in the 18th minute of this period but oddly enough, although he was shaken he spurred Pakistan onto greater endeavour. Atif Bashir, at outside right, who had earlier hit the outside netting after a brilliant run, came more into promise. Then Shahbaz delivered the vital blow. Noticing a space on the right of the field he gave the ball to Nadeem who raced unopposed into the circle and released a shot which landed in the goal after Jansen had made a futile attempt to save. The shot went clearly out of reach. Shortly after he had scored, Nadeem was put under temporary suspension for hitting the ball away after the whistle was blown at the end of an abortive short corner for Pakistan. Nevertheless Pakistan continued to lay siege to the Dutch goal and a penalty corner was earned after a sparkling run by Mohammad Shahbaz. Naveeds shot, however, was well saved by the Dutch goalkeeper. Ten minutes before the end the Dutch created a chance for the equaliser which they so desperately sought. Maurits Crucq came up from the back and eluding both full backs tried a shot which Mansoor saved somewhat contortedly. Play was held up soon after as another collision caused an injury to Irfan and it took several minutes to revive him. Holland, however, kept up the chase and with barely five minutes to go, were rewarded with a penalty corner. Taco van den Honert, not given to missing the target, put his shot wide and Pakistan breathed again. At the other end Shahbaz crowned a good afternoons work by setting up a chance for Mohammad Shahbaz whose shot went high and wide. That was virtually the end of the match. PAKISTAN: Mansoor Ahmad, Naveed Alam, Danesh Kaleem, Mohammad Usman, Irfan Mahmood, K.M. Junaid, Atif Bashir, Rana Mujahid, Akmal Sikander, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammad Shahbaz. Substitute: Mohammad Nadeem. HOLLAND: R. Jansen, E. Jazet, J. Delmee, M. Crucq, W. van Pelt, P. Geeris, J. Brinkman, (capt), L. Gebbink, S. Veen, T. van den Honert, R. van Wijk, S. van Heeswijk. Substitutes: S. Veen, T. de Nooijer. UMPIRES: R. Wolter (Germany) and S. Horgan (USA). DWS 951003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Crucial one-dayer today in Rawalpindi ------------------------------------------------------------------- Samiul Hasan RAWALPINDI, Oct 2: Pakistan take on Sri Lanka in the third and decisive one-day international here on Tuesday with the series and reputation both at stake. Having won the Gujranwala one-dayer so comfortably by nine wickets with 36 balls to spare, Pakistan were brought down to earth with a bang. As far as the reputation is concerned, since winning the World Cup in Melbourne on March 25, 1992, Pakistan has not been able to justify themselves as the true champions. Pakistan won the five-match series against New Zealand 4-1 and registered victory by an identical margin over Sri Lanka before everything started going wrong for them. They failed to win a single game in the quadrangular tournament in Sri Lanka and then were comprehensive beaten in the Wills Triangular Series by Australia. They were then swept aside by South Africa in the Mandela Trophy and even failed to beat Zimbabwe when they were held to a 1-1 draw. As far as this series is concerned, Sri Lanka has definitely appeared to be more superior and improved side. They are better fit both mentally and physically. On the contrary, Pakistan has not recovered from the betting and bribery scandals. Their problems compounded further when Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis had to be left out because on fitness grounds. When the two teams take the field on Tuesday for the final game of the series. Sri Lanka will be enjoying a cutting edge over Pakistan because of two simple reasons: 1. they came from 1-0 down to win the Test series 2-1; 2. they once again pulled themselves in the one-day series and are now level at 1-1. The two teams have not finalised their teams for the decider Arjuna Ranatunga, the Sri Lankan skipper, stated that the batting lineup will not be changed but hinted that a couple of changes might be made in the bowling. The wicket it seems will suit the seamers. Therefore, we might play with three pacers. However, we will take a final decision on Tuesday morning. Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja said: Saqlain Mushtaq will be joining the team and most likely we shall be playing with two spinners and two fast bowlers. Commenting on tomorrows match, Ranatunga said: We are not complacent after 2-1 Test series. We want to win the one-day series as well. Ranatunga admitted that his team enjoyed the edge in the final match of the series but added that any team giving its best will win the match and the series. Raja, asked why he played with four seamers at Sialkot, Raja said the major reasons for that was that Pakistans strength laid in fast bowlers Secondly, Saqlain no doubt was a good spinner but lacked experience and thus could not run through the innings. Reverting to the decisive one-dayer, while the match would be significant as far as the series is concerned, a couple of individual landmarks are also expected to be achieved here. Ramiz Raja is only eight runs short of becoming the third Pakistani and 11th in the world to accumulated 5,000 runs while Inzamamul Haq needs four runs to complete 3,000 runs and become fifth Pakistani after Javed Miandad, Salim Malik, Ramiz Raja and Imran Khan. All said and done, a very interesting battle between the bat and the ball is on the cards on Tuesday. Though odds are against Pakistan, the home team has never lost its previous four matches on this ground. They won against Sri Lanka in 1991-92, beat Zimbabwe in 1993-94 and won successive matches against Australia and South Africa last year in the triangular series. DWS 951004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan lose one-day series ------------------------------------------------------------------- RAWALPINDI, Oct 3: Sri Lankas spin bowlers excelled again on Tuesday, restricting Pakistan to 183 for nine in the third and final one-day cricket international. The match was reduced to 38 overs-a-side after heavy overnight rain left the ground waterlogged. Kumara Dharmasena claimed three for 30 while Aravinda de Silva, better known for his aggressive batting, captured three for 36. Pakistan failed to cash in on a 55-run first wicket stand in 12.3 overs and their last eight wickets fell for 128 runs. Opener Salim Elahi (30), Inzamam-ul-Haq (25) and debutant Saeed Azad (19) were all caught on the boundary, while Aamir Sohail (26) and Ramiz Raja (4) were smartly stumped by Rumesh Kaluwitharna. DWS 951004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan surrender 1-day series as well to Lanka ------------------------------------------------------------------- Samiul Hasan RAWALPINDI, Oct 3: Pakistans reputation as world champions received another severe blow when Sri Lanka, defeated them by four wickets in the third and decisive one-day international at the Pindi Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday. Having lost the opener at Gujranwala by a huge margin of nine wickets, Sri Lanka levelled the series 1-all at Faisalabad where they won by 49 runs and clinched the double at Rawalpindi. Like the Test series, it was their first-ever one-day series triumph in Pakistan. The Islanders had earlier won the Test series by an indentical margin, more or less in similar fashion when they staged a magnificent recovery after losing the Peshawar Test by an innings to draw the series level at Faisalabad where they triumph by 42 runs. In Sialkot, they won by 144 runs. In a game of fluctuating fortunes in which none of the sides completely dominated the proceedings, Pakistan had a good chance of salvaging some pride when they had reduced Sri Lanka to 165 for six *from 138 for three when the visitors were chasing 184 for victory in a reduced 38-over-a-side game. But like the national hockey team, the cricket team lacked final touches and failed to convert a close game into victory. Although Aqib Javed did evoke a ray of hope in the packed-to- capacity stands when he bowled three successive maiden balls in the final over when Sri Lanka needed two for victory. But a bad throw by Salim Elahi at the non-strikers end to run out Hashan Tillekeratke not only missed the three sticks but also conceded two extra runs as no fielder was there to back up the throw. Ramiz, in this match only, committed at least two crucial mistakes. Firstly, he did not inducted Aamir Sohail, the left-arm spinner, in the attack considering that Arshad Khan had got support from the track as is evident from his figures of 7-1-26-0 and secondly, Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Rumesh Kaluwitharna, from the word go, played his shots around the square-leg region but the Pakistan skipper did not strengthen that area. And when an additional fielder in Inzamamul Haq was brought in, Kaluwitharna played a lofted shot at square-leg to be caught by Saeed Azad. But by then it had been too late as the wicketkeeper had already caused the damage by scoring 12 invaluable runs from 10 balls. Reverting to the match, Sri Lanka did everything right and the Pakistanis did everything wrong. The Sri Lankan slow bowlers were right on target while the Pakistanis, barring Arshad Khan, were erratic. The fielding of the two sides was as much different as their attitude towards the game. Sri Lanka, chasing 184 to win in 38 overs with an average of 4.82 runs per over, started off well when Sanath Jayasuriya (19) and Roshan Mahanama (23) put on 42 runs for the opening wicket in 8.1 overs. However, Sri Lanka were reduced to 63 for three in 14.2 overs when Zafar Iqbal, playing his second game, achieved success in quick successions getting rid of Asanka Gurusinha (10) and Mahanama after Aqib Javed sent Jayasuriya back to the pavilion to start the rot. Nevertheless, experienced campaigners in Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga held the innings together and repaired the damage by putting on 75 runs an equal number of minutes to put the tourists back in game. But successive decisions against the two off Aamir Hanif, which could have gone in their way, changed the complexion of the match. Aravinda de Silva was declared leg before after scoring 32 runs from 53 balls with the aid of two boundaries and 11 balls later Arjuna anatunga, named Man-of-the-Match, fell in a similar fashion to the same bowler after scoring a 83-ball 42 that included three hits to the fence. Aamir Hanif then secured his final wicket of the match when he accounted for Rumesh Kaluwitharna to reduce Sri Lanka to 165 for six with another 19 needed of the final 21 balls. However, Hashan Tillekeratne, later adjudged Man-of-the-Series, and Rawan Kalpage made sure that their team overtook Pakistans score without any further damage though Kalpage must have stopped the heart beats of his team-members by playing three maiden balls in the final over when two runs were needed for a historic victory. For Pakistan, Aamir Hanif, playing his third one-day for Pakistan, was the most successful bowler with three wickets for 36 runs while Zafar Iqbal, appearing for the second time for Pakistan since the Asia Cup, chipped in with two wickets for 37 runs. Sri Lanka scored their first 50 from 10.3 overs while their second 50 came off 13.1 overs. They reached 150 off 32.3 overs. Earlier, Pakistan, put into bat, managed to collect 183 for nine in their allotted 38 overs, thanks to a fine unbeaten knock of 36 by Aamir Hanif off 44 balls with the aid of two boundaries. Aamir had held the innings together when the top Pakistan batsmen had departed after playing some careless shots and left the team to struggle at 104 for four in 24.1 overs. Pakistani batsmen failed to cash in on the opportunity of posting a big score after Aamir Sohail and Salim Elahi had provided the home team with a second half century stand of the series. Salim Elahi, who scored 30 off 33 balls with three fours and a six, hit the ball right into the hands of Rawan Kalpage at deep mid-wicket off Kumara Dharamasena while trying to hit the ball out of the ground. Aamir Sohail (26 off 55 balls with two boundaries) Ramiz Raja (4) danced down the wicket only to be mesmerised by Dharamasena and wicketkeeper Kaluwitharna making no mistakes in removing the bails. Inzamamul Haq, who became the fifth Pakistani and 35th in the world to get 3,000 when he got his fourth run in his knock of 25, repeated the Faisalabad mistake and was caught by Jayasuriya at the boundary off Aravinda de Silva. Saeed Azad, started off well but then awarded one of the simplest of catches to Pramodiya Wickremasinghe at mid-off to throw away his wicket after scoring 19 off 35 balls with a boundary. After removing the top order, the rest became easy for the tourists who restricted Pakistan to 183 for nine in 38 overs. Kumara Dharamasena finished with three wickets for 30 runs while Aravinda de Silav bettered his best bowling figures to three wickets for 30 runs. Pakistans 50 came off 11.2 overs while they reached the three figures from 22.4 overs. They completed their 150 from 33 overs. DWS 951001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- IMRAN KHAN SAYS : Salim case confusion should be c1eared ------------------------------------------------------------------- Walter Frenandez QUETTA, Sept 30: Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan, in an exclusive interview to Dawn here on Saturday said, total confusion prevails in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in regard to the Salim Malik case. "It is high time, the confusion is cleared and the house put in order. We are fast approaching two highly important assignments, the tour Down Under and the World Cup which we will defend at home in February- March next year. A strong squad will have to be selected for the very difficult task at hand. "Pakistan will have to name a team that would comprise a rich blend of youth and experience. In the event, both Salim Malik and Ejaz Ahmed will be the backbone of the side," opined Imran Khan. "To begin Seth, the PCB should make it absolutely clear, if Salim Malik was involved in trying to sell the Pakistan team by offering bribes to throw the Karachi Test match as alleged by Australian stars Shane Warne and Tim May,". "If Salim Malik was really involved, which I doubt he could have done it all by himself without any other member of the team. being equally responsible, then the PCB is morally bound to start criminal proceedings against him in a court of law. "If at all Salim Malik is found guilty he should be banned for life but if no, he should be allowed to resume his career with the Pakistan team. But the Ad hoc arrangement of appointing former Supreme Court Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, as an inquiry officer is just not good enough,". "Then, come to the case of the exclusion of Ejaz Ahmed, he was the second highest on the batting averages in- the last tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Why is he being punished, I just cannot understand. Is it because he is the brother-in-law of Salim Malik?" inquired an agitated Imran Khan. In fairness, Ejaz Ahmed, really deserved to be in the team and Pakistan could well do with his experience. "I am as confused as you with the way the PCB has been handling the Salim-Ejaz problem, so to speak," asked to comment on the just concluded home Test series defeat against lowly-rated Sri Lanka Imran Khan brushed aside the topic by stating he had not seen a single day's play. When his attention was drawn to the tracks prepared for the Lankan series, he shot back: "This is a 19 year-old problem and no Board whatsoever has saver addressed the subject to find a corrective solution," said the former Pakistan fast bowler. "It all boils down to the corruption in the domestic cricket format. The powers-that-be are fully aware the gambling had begun in the domestic cricket matches with the various departments playing fix matches stated Imran Khan. "Until and unless we base our domestic cricket structure on regional basis as is done in all the other Test cricket-playing countries, the present malady and ill in our cricket will continue," opined the great Imran Khan. "I like to let you know, that I am one Pakistani who has had the longest experience in the international cricket circuit and has virtually delivered the goods in every respect, yet the PCB has excluded me from having a say in the country's administration and the hardly adhere to my views," informed a despondent Pakistan cricketing hero. "They have just sidelined me, and that is that. Do I not deserve better and be allowed to contribute my bit," Imran Khan, the former Pakistan all-rounder, wanted to know.