------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 2 September 2000 Issue : 06/33 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents | National News | Business & Economy | Editorials & Features | Sports
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CONTENTS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS + FIR in plane case full of flaws: defence + Counsel told not to politicize plane case + Nawaz illegally stopped landing of plane, observes CJ + Plane case: approver's version contested + Plane case hearing: Vital evidence erased, says defence counsel + AG explains why Nawaz was hand-cuffed + Mly takeover: SC to hear pleas soon + Devolution plan, poll reforms discussed: McKinnon, Musharraf meet + McKinnon calls for democracy in 2 years: CE gave no timeframe + Commonwealth help to be welcomed + Court summons Benazir + Case against Nusrat Bhutto: hearing on 11th + FIA not being disbanded, says minister + No Israeli technology transfer to Pakistan + Probe demanded into MQM charges against ISI + JCSC meeting + Formal talks to resolve PIA, Sabre tiff begin + NRB, interior ministry told to mend fences + GDA chief opposes change in constitution + Officials asked to get data from WAPDA: Understatement of income + EC reviews voters lists verification plan + Kalabagh dam plan shelved: Cabinet decides to tap other sources + Changes in top army brass + Pakistan expels Indian HC official + India rejects reports on peak issue + Balochistan, NWFP propose names on NFC + Draft law on freedom of information circulated + Over 2,600 cases referred to CE secretariat: Corrupt officials + RBOD water to be drained into sea: Sindh stand upheld --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + Micro-Finance Ordinance to be amended + CBR amends ST refund rules: Exporters get 60-day facility + SBP cuts yield on fresh FCY deposits + Large-scale deficit is unsustainable: report + IMF short package by year end likely + Kuwait reschedules Pakistan's loans + Weekend stock session finishes on weak note --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan By Ardeshir Cowasjee + The quality of Pakistani dictatorship By Ayaz Amir + The silly season By Irfan Hussain ----------- SPORTS + South Africa clinch Singapore trophy: Pakistan go down by 93 runs + Waqar blames poor fielding for defeat + 3 cricketers to face one-man inquiry body + Players deny incident ever happened + Pakistan beat New Zealand by solitary goal
=================================================================== DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS 20000829 ------------------------------------------------------------------- FIR in plane case full of flaws: defence ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Shamim-ur-Rahman KARACHI, Aug 28: Arguing the case for setting aside the conviction of the deposed prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, in the Oct 12 plane hijacking case, Barrister Azizullah Shaikh made submissions before the full bench of the Sindh High Court on the premise of power struggle. The full bench, comprising Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Wahid Bux Brohi, resumed hearing of appeals against the judgment in the case after a weeklong adjournment. The defence counsel referring to the facts mentioned in Syed Zafar Ali Shah case and Nawaz Sharif's statement before the trial court claimed that the FIR was flawed and a "bundle of lies." He also submitted that Mr Sharif's government was overthrown as a consequence of a power struggle, which stemmed from the Kargil episode. He submitted that the case against Mr Sharif was registered "after deliberations, consultations and planning with unexplained delay of 28 days to create justification for the unconstitutional and illegal takeover of the country by the army and to divert the attention of the people from the act of high treason, subversion of Constitution and even kidnapping." Justifying his changed stance he cited various cases and claimed that an accused person was free to take whatever plea he liked, whether true or false. One of the three cases was from undivided India known as Moti Ram's case (AIR 1941, Sindh). The two judgments delivered by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1992 were relied upon for invoking "exceptions." Citing Moti Ram's case he submitted that it was the duty of the court to see that whether the accused was entitled to benefit of doubt or not. The focus of Mr Shaikh's argument was on creating a reasonable doubt about the facts of the case. He claimed that by removing Gen Musharraf as the COAS and chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, Mr Sharif had exercised his authority, which was being eroded because three generals had become disobedient. He submitted that Mr Sharif had ordered the plane to be sent out after refueling because he wanted to consolidate his position as the presence of Gen Musharraf would have encouraged those who had rebelled. He maintained that the order given by his client at 6.15pm was very significant to prove that he did not hijack the plane but the one who was on board the plane. Mr Shaikh submitted that his client had the constitutional authority as prime minister and the defence minister to remove Gen Musharraf at 4.30pm. The order was seen by the president, he submitted claiming, "whatever has been done after this was illegal." The removal was not a new thing, he said, arguing that Mr Sharif had earlier removed chiefs of the army, air force and navy. "All of them obeyed the orders but this time an individual rebelled", argued Barrister Shaikh. If the plane had not landed the entire story could have been different, he claimed. Barrister Shaikh also submitted a xerox copy of the order of Mr Sharif which said: "It has been decided to retire Gen Pervez Musharraf, acting chairman, joint chiefs of staff committee with immediate effect. Lt-Gen Ziauddin has been appointed as the chief of the army staff with immediate effect and promoted to the rank of general. Before orders to this effect are issued, President may kindly see." He submitted that the prosecution had not challenged Gen Ziauddin's appointment and as it remained unchallenged, the removal of Gen Musharraf was legal. Claiming that the FIR was flawed and intended to victimize his client, the defence counsel refuted allegation of a conspiracy to kill the COAS. "Where was that conspiracy when the plane was ordered to land for refueling," he emphasized. Referring to trial court's judgment in the case, he submitted that it had acquitted his client on charges of attempted abduction, attempt to murder and high treason and thus half of the case of prosecution had gone. He said the prosecution had not challenged Mr Sharif's acquittal on these counts. He submitted that in the FIR Mr Sharif had been accused of high treason but the trial court judge had observed that he had gone through the facts and had found no evidence to that effect. "Is it the duty of the court to investigate?", he asked and added "can reliance be put in such witnesses?" He also pointed out that in the FIR there was no mention of Shahbaz Sharif, Saifur Rahman and Saeed Mehdi but in the challan their names were inserted. Citing various portions of the FIR he submitted that it was "not a prompt but a product of the sum total of the best brains ... This was not a genuine FIR; it was lodged after due deliberations and consultations." In this context he recalled Col Atiqur Rehman Kiyani's statement that approximately 150 people had been consulted. In the FIR only five accused were mentioned but in challan three more names were added which he claimed was proof of the case being false and vindictive. He submitted that his client was charged under sections 324 and 365 but the trial court had not found him guilty. This means that partially the prosecution's case was false. He noted that the prosecution had not filed an appeal against this. Barrister Shaikh emphasized the time of 6.15pm when his client had given clearance to the plane to land for refueling, charges of hijacking against Mr Sharif were cooked up as no explanation was given for 1.40 minutes flight after that clearance. In support of his contention of power struggle he also referred to part of Gen. Musharraf's speech after military take over in which he had stated that the "armed forces had been facing incessant public clamor to remedy the fast declining situation from all sides of the political divide". This was interpreted by the defence counsel as politicking and struggle for power by the armed forces, in violation of the constitution. In support of his contention he said that differences of opinion were also hinted when Gen Musharraf had claimed that his counseling was not taken into consideration. Hitting hard at frequent military takeovers and interventions Barrister Shaikh submitted: "Pakistan came into being not on the basis of bullet but on the basis of ballot. They had not played any role in the creation of the country, what right they have to interfere with the constitutional authority." He also referred to Kargil episode and read out from the statement given by Mr Sharif before the trial court where he had alleged that Gen Musharraf had a grudge against him and had already prepared a blueprint for the overthrow of his "legally established government by unconstitutional means." He referred to Mr Sharif's statement in which he had stated that the circumstances giving rise to "these unfortunate developments" dated back to the Kargil issue which was one of the most serious crises in Pakistan's history, and had posed a grave danger to the integrity of the country. Shahbaz Sharif was also produced before the bench along with Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Syed Ghous Ali Shah. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000830 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Counsel told not to politicize plane case ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Shamim-ur-Rahman KARACHI, Aug 29: A full Bench of the Sindh High Court, hearing appeals against the ATC judgment in the PIA plane hijacking case, directed Nawaz Sharif's counsel not to politicize the case as he dwelt on the facts of the case and referred to mutiny and revolt, in support of his contention of the power struggle between his client and Gen Pervez Musharraf. As the defence counsel referred to the army takeover as "mutiny and revolt" the chief justice observed: "We are not here to decide whether it was mutiny or revolt or something else, the case before us is a criminal case and you should confine your arguments to facts and merits of the case. "You should not politicize the case because if you continue on these lines, you will be encountered with other case material also", observed the chief Justice. He remarked that the defence had not been able to produce any material whether the three mobile telephones stated to be carried by Gen Pervez Musharraf were operational while he was in Sri Lanka, and whether he was in contact with his aides in Pakistan. "The decision (of takeover) was taken after consultation with about 18 generals," the chief justice remarked, adding that "he was not even here how can he order... and you are saying that whatever happened was at his behest, how?" Barrister Shaikh submitted that before going to Sri Lanka Gen Musharraf had planned the coup. "Whether he went or was sent there is also a controversial matter and the Supreme Court will have to hear me." Mr Shaikh contended that he was dealing with facts and not politicizing the case. He contended that when the army chief had confirmed that all his generals had been in contact he landed at Karachi and ordered not to let anyone leave the country. Referring to the struggle for power he mentioned the Kargil episode which he claimed had sowed the seeds of bitterness and hostility. On defence counsel's submissions justifying "removal" of Gen Musharraf the chief justice asked how Gen Musharraf lost confidence of the then prime minister only a week after his appointment as chairman, joint chiefs of staff committee. "You appoint a person one week because you were aware of his qualities but the next week he suddenly looses your confidence?", observed the chief justice. The defence counsel submitted that if he dwelt into that it would be out of this court's jurisdiction and it was for the Supreme Court to call all parties on this point. "I am trying to bring out the motive for removing Gen Musharraf, I am not politicizing, I am reading from the record," submitted by the defence counsel. The court remarked that the defence counsel could argue about the alleged power struggle but not beyond that. Barrister Shaikh referred to Gen Musharraf's speech after the military takeover and claimed that the entire case against his client had been developed after seven hours of deliberations. The speech, meant to win over support, lacked the details. All the stories were cooked up later, he contended. "My action (removal of COAS) was legal and according to the Constitution. Their action was illegal, thus a false story to implicate innocent persons." He read out portions of the statements recorded by Zahid Mahmood, the retired naval officer who was protocol officer at the prime minister's house. He submitted that when according to this prosecution witness the deposed prime minister had at 6.15 pm given clearance to the plane to land for refueling, how the plane remained in the air until 7.48pm? and how did it prove that he (Nawaz) had attempted to hijack the plane. Dwelling into what he considered as contradictions in the statement, the defence counsel said at one point the witness had said that the army had arrived at the prime minister's house at 6.30pm and had taken control of the telephone exchange by 6.45pm, then how could the court accept the approver, Aminullah Chaudhry's statement that the prime minister had spoken to him 7.05pm. "How can the prime minister speak to the approver when according to the witness, the army had taken over the telephone exchange?" he asked claiming that "all the conversations the prosecution has mentioned after 6.45pm is all lies and should be rejected." He also referred to the statement of Brig Javed Iqbal, military secretary to Nawaz Sharif and read out portions relating to conversation between his client and the defence secretary, Gen (retd) Iftekhar, with regard to the removal of Corps Commander Tariq Pervez by Gen Pervez Musharraf and consequent decision of Nawaz Sharif to replace Gen Musharraf as the COAS. He claimed that the categorical statement was a deliberate leak by the ISPR to show to the armed forces that Gen Musharraf was all powerful. He also dealt with the psychological condition of the witness and said if he was a witness to the conversation, why was he not called as witness. "How can a person whose attention was focused on looking out for Saeed Mehdi, can remember the conversation and cite quotes?" submitted Mr Shaikh. Dilating on his claim of a planned coup allegedly by the army chief, he submitted that his client was kept informed about it by the ISI, which he claimed had interfered with elections and was also involved in bugging of telephones, including those of judges. "I (Nawaz) was being informed by official source (Gen Ziauddin) that the COAS was planning to overthrow me," submitted Mr Shaikh adding that his client's action was calculated. He submitted that the ISI knew the generals who were conspiring to overthrow the government. Referring to the testimony of Brig Javed Iqbal, defence counsel pointed out that according to the prosecution witness the army guards posted at the prime minister's house had started wearing head phones and carrying walkie talkies 4-5 days prior to the Oct 12 action, which proved that the coup was planned earlier. He submitted that "if witnesses on vital questions contradicted each other, jurisprudence says to reject both of them and give benefit of doubt to the accused." If his (Javed) lie is taken as true, even then according to his testimony, at 7:00pm he directed the DG CAA to land the plane immediately at Karachi. How and on whose orders the plane kept flying for another 30 minutes and when landed had a fuel for another 10 minutes flight time as per prosecution's own story, he asked. Referring to his testimony regarding incident at PTV station Islamabad in which he was involved, Barrister Shaikh said the officer who commanded the troops was issued orders for taking over the PTV building by his commanding officer. The command of 111 brigade was changed only few months back and this mattered the most as troops of this brigade were the first to move and take over key installations and the accused had also made a reference to this in his statement before the trial court, stated the defence counsel. This was a clear proof of mutiny , he submitted. The defence counsel also dealt with the evidence of Mohammed Asif, telephone operator at the prime minister's house in Islamabad. The defence counsel pointed out a number of contradictions in his statement and said that deposition of this witness was not corroborated by any documents. If the calls were made by the PM to his alleged co-conspirators at Karachi why the telephone bill was not produced by the prosecution, he pleaded. "If they tried to do so now it will be fabricating the document," he said. He pointed out that the witness remembered every call of Oct 12 but nothing about 9, 10, 11 or 13. In this context he said that there had been no record that Nawaz Sharif had spoken to Aminullah Chaudhry nor there had been any record of what transpired in that so-called conversation. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000831 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Nawaz illegally stopped landing of plane, observes CJ ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Shamim-ur-Rahman KARACHI, Aug 30: The Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, observed that in view of admission by Nawaz Sharif's counsel that on Oct 12 his client had ordered the diversion of the PIA flight from Colombo to a destination outside Pakistan, approver's testimony in the case had lost its importance. The chief justice made these observation when Barrister Azizullah Shaikh, counsel for the ousted prime minister, submitted before a full bench of the high court, comprising Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Wahid Bux Brohi, hearing appeals in the plane hijacking case, that approver Aminullah Chaudhri's statement was not corroborated by other prosecution witnesses and should be rejected even without looking into it. Mr Shaikh submitted that no charge of conspiracy had been proved. He also referred to contradiction in the statements of witnesses from Islamabad and Karachi and contended that if any order was passed by the approver it would not be abetment. "My client never ordered blocking of runway by placing fire engines nor he ordered to divert the plane to India. These all are fake pleas" argued Barrister Shaikh. He focused on difference in timing of clearance given by Nawaz Sharif for the landing of aircraft for refueling and the army take over. He submitted that according to prosecutions' own case, army took over prime minister's house in Islamabad at 6:45pm and Air Traffic Control at Karachi airport at 7: 05pm ."The question remains that why aircraft flew for another 43 minutes, who was in control. If approver's testimony is to be believed, I have no arguments," he submitted. Mr Shaikh said that the time when the Army had taken over control of the ATC, "the coup was in place". Mr Shaikh also tried to build up on the contradictions in the statements of telephone operators at prime minister house in Islamabad, Aminullah Chaudhri's office and in the statement of approver himself. He submitted that Aminullah in his deposition before the trial court had stated that he made several attempts, at least four to contact Nawaz Sharif but it was not corroborated by any other witness, including telephone operator of the DG CAA and the one at PM House, Islamabad. He said if the call was made then the prosecution should produce documentary evidence of the calls to support his testimony. According to Zahid Mehmood's testimony he had no conversation with DG CAA on Oct 12, but Aminullah claimed he had a conversation with Zahid about fuel position, submitted counsel Shaikh. Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany pointed out to Barrister Shaikh that Javed Iqbal corroborated approvers' statement. Mr Shaikh submitted that there was no material evidence to support Aminullah's statement that Brigadier Javed Iqbal had asked him to contact the then IGP Sindh, Rana Maqbool Ahmed, to park the plane at an isolated place at Karachi airport. All the prosecution witnesses contradict each other on all material points, particularly the version of timing given by the witnesses from Islamabad and those from Karachi. The prosecution had thus given two different versions of a single incident, contradictory to one another, making the case false and fabricated, he argued. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000901 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Plane case: approver's version contested ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Shamim-ur-Rahman KARACHI, Aug 31: Resuming his arguments in Nawaz Sharif's acquittal appeal before a full bench of the Sindh High Court on the fourth day, Barrister Azizullah Shaikh pleaded that his client should not be penalized on the basis of an approver's unsubstantiated utterances. He focused his arguments on the admissibility and reliability of uncorroborated testimony of the approver. Mr Shaikh, who had earlier submitted that his client was justified in ordering the plane, carrying Gen Pervez Musharraf, to be diverted outside the country, referred to approver Aminullah Chaudhry's testimony and contended that his client had not issued any such order. "The prime minister had not issued any order to divert the flight to any other destination. The PM had not given directions about the closure of the Karachi and Nawabshah airports. Domestic flights were directed under my direction," the defence counsel cited from Mr Chaudhry's testimony. It was an outright admission of guilt by the approver, he submitted. "In order to save his own neck, this wicked man can say anything about any person even under oath", argued Barrister Shaikh requesting the court to out rightly reject the evidence of the approver. Referring to Ayub Khuhro's case (PLD 1960) in which it was held that evidence of an accomplice was not admissible, Barrister Shaikh contended that the same principle was attracted in the appeal before the full bench, as no other witness corroborated the testimony of Chaudhry, the accused-turned-approver. The appellant argued that when his client had not given any directive about the closure of the Karachi and Nawabshah airports, how could he be held responsible for those acts. Barrister Shaikh argued that when at 6.15pm his client had directed the plane to land at Nawabshah, what authority the approver had at 6.45pm to obstruct this flight. Referring to lack of response from the pilot for sometime during the crucial moments, Mr Shaikh claimed: "There was something going on in the cabin and proved that Gen Musharraf was controlling the aircraft." He argued that from the evidence of Islamabad witnesses, nothing came on the record to corroborate what had transpired between the appellant and the approver. "It is only he who has attributed a number of directions to the deposed prime minister," he submitted. Referring to the court observations about Mr Sharif's admission, Barrister Shaikh said it was based on the statement of Zahid Mehmood, the protocol officer, PM house in Islamabad. According to the statement of Mr Zahid at 5.45pm his client had asked him (Zahid) to convey to Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, then PIA chairman, to divert the flight to Muscat. He had also stated that at 6:15pm in reply to Abbasi's reporting shortage of fuel, Mr Sharif had ordered diversion of flight to Nawabshah for refueling from where it was to be sent to Muscat. He submitted that this order was the final order passed by the accused and what happened after 6:45pm was all concoction of the approver because at that time the army had taken control of the telephone exchange at the prime minister's house. "Whatever the Karachi witness say after 6.45pm is sham evidence. How can the prime minister or Zahid speak to Karachi when army had taken over (the exchange)," he argued. Attacking testimony of the approver, the defence counsel pointed at what he considered to be material contradictions in his evidence, and submitted that at one place the approver had denied any investigation or interrogation, but in the same breathe he had stated that he had appeared before a board of enquiry. He also read out from the testimony of another prosecution witness Wing Commander Ahmed Farooq, who was secretary to Mr Chaudhry. He also cited the pilot's conversation about fuel endurance at 6:45pm and said that he (pilot) had mentioned fuel for one hour 15 minutes. The defence counsel submitted that according to Mr Farooq's evidence, Mr Chaudhry had suggested diverting the plane to Bombay. He contended that this prosecution witness had also lied about different statements made by him to the police. Barrister Shaikh had started his attack on the testimony of Syed Yusuf Abbas, chief operational officer, CAA, when the bench put off the matter till 9am on Friday. Shahbaz Sharif, Syed Ghous Ali Shah and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi were also present in the court. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Plane case hearing: Vital evidence erased, says defence counsel ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Shamim-ur-Rahman KARACHI, Sept 1: During the course of arguments in Nawaz Sharif's appeal against his sentence in the plane case, a controversy developed when his counsel submitted before the full bench of the Sindh High Court that the prosecution had erased the vital piece of evidence with regard to conversation between General Pervez Musharraf and Maj Gen Iftikhar on Oct 12, 1999. Barrister Azizullah Shaikh, pleading the case, claimed that Gen Musharraf and not his client had hijacked the plane and accused the prosecution of erasing from the flight recorder conversation between him (Gen Musharraf) and Maj Gen Iftikhar when flight PK-805 was hovering over Karachi. While referring to the testimony of prosecution witness, Syed Aqeel Ahmed, general manager of air traffic control, the defence counsel submitted that the prosecution had erased the recording to suppress the information about pilot's conversation. He interpreted that someone else was holding the pilot from landing and claimed that he was obeying the orders of Gen Musharraf, who allowed the pilot to land only after he (Gen Musharraf) had talked to Maj Gen Iftikhar who was present in the ATC tower. He claimed that the plane was in fact hijacked by Gen Musharraf or remained under his control for at least 15 to 20 minutes. The evidence to this effect was intentionally not preserved to play with the facts, he claimed. At this stage, on chief justice's inquiry, Special Public Prosecutor Barrister Zahoor-ul-Haq informed the Bench that "whatever the pilot talks in the cockpit is recorded for half an hour." He referred to Rule 212 of the Civil Aviation Rules 1994 according to which the pilot could only deactivate the black box in case of an accident. Since hijacking was an 'incident' and not an 'accident' the black box functioned normally, getting reactivated after every half an hour, he submitted. Anjum Jawaid Khan, one of the assistant prosecutors, submitted that since it was safe landing and there was no accident, the recording was not preserved. On a query from another member of the Bench, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, he submitted that the black box of an aircraft was activated only when an accident occurred. This was due to inbuilt automation and no eraser of the recorder was done by the prosecution. Justice Osmany observed that if it got automatically activated then the reasoning of the prosecution was plausible because there was no emergency. Further explaining the position Advocate General Sindh, Raja Qureshi, submitted that at 7:30pm, the previous recording was erased thus leaving only 18-minute conversation on record in the black box. He submitted that transcript of the conversation from the ground, recorded on the spools, as well as the spools, were produced in the trial court. "But not proved" quipped Barrister Aziullah Shaikh. The chief justice told the defence counsel that "we accept that Maj Gen Iftikhar and Gen Musharraf were talking." The defence counsel argued that the time between 7 pm and the actual landing of the aircraft was crucial and claimed that according to recorded testimony the pilot had disobeyed the orders of ATC when despite being allowed landing at Karachi airport he turned back to Nawabshah. Earlier, in an attempt to highlight what he termed as contradictions in the statements of prosecution witnesses, Barrister Shaikh read out the evidence of Syed Yousuf Abbas, chief operational officer, CAA. He pointed out that the witness had mentioned the name of two other officers Anwar-ul-Haq and Farooq (not Wing Commander Farooq) who were also present at ATC and radar, but none of them were examined by the court. He submitted that Anwar-ul-Haq was apparently the person who had said that flight PK-805 could go to Muscat with the fuel available in the aircraft. Referring to this prosecution witness Barrister Shaikh said that it was absurd that ATC would say to the pilot that he could go anywhere at his own risk. "If they have justifiable reason to divert the flight, then his client (the accused) also had the justifiable reason to divert the flight" He also referred to the witness's deposition regarding the behaviour of the pilot and said that according to PW Yousuf, pilot ignored the directions from the radar control and ATC and took a turn in the direction of Nawabshah airport for second time. He then suddenly turned to Karachi. Barrister Shaikh was on his feet when the bench adjourned the matter till Tuesday morning. Shahbaz Sharif, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Syed Ghous Ali Shah were also produced before the court. Barrister Shaikh, Barrister Sadia Abbasi, Manzoor A Malik, counsel for former IGP Sindh Rana Maqbool, Mir Mohammed Shaikh advocate represented the accused while barrister Zahoorul Haq, AG Sindh Raja Qureshi, Anjum Jawaid Khan, Abdul Lateef Yousufzai, M.Ilyas Khan and Masooda Siraj appeared for the state. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000829 ------------------------------------------------------------------- AG explains why Nawaz was hand-cuffed ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Aug 28: The state informed the full bench of the Sindh High Court that the deposed prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, had been handcuffed during shifting from Attock to Karachi because he had displayed "hysterical mental state and hostile attitude." Sindh advocate-general, Raja Qureshi, in compliance to the order of the full bench, comprising Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Wahid Bux Brohi, placed a letter signed by Punjab additional secretary, prisons. Mr Qureshi acted when the counsel for the appellant, Barrister Azizullah Shaikh had drawn the attention of the court towards the issue and to the court's orders requiring the state counsel to furnish the names of the agencies and officials involved in the episode. The letter was intended to clarify the Punjab government's position on the handcuffing, of Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and others during their shifting from Attock to Karachi on the night of 12/13 June on the orders of SHC for appearance in the plane hijacking case. During the process of their shifting the accused, particularly Nawaz Sharif, "displayed hysterical mental state and hostile attitude" towards the officials deputed for the implementation of the court orders for producing the accused before the SHC. "The intentions and behaviour created an alarming situation as the very safety of the passengers and the aircraft was at complete risk," it said. "In order to avoid any fatal and disastrous incident, the accused were handcuffed, which was an action well within the legal provisions as contained in the Police Rules, 1934, Rule 26-22 and Pakistan Prison Rules 652 (for the protection of the prisoner himself and other person)." Justifying the above action the concerned official of the Punjab government had maintained that in the normal circumstances such measures were not adopted. The counsel for Nawaz Sharif, Barrister Shaikh asked the Sindh advocate general, to place the names of those persons and agencies who had handcuffed the deposed prime minister during the flight. Barrister Shaikh submitted that the report was incomplete as the prosecution had not provided the names of the officials and the agencies and the reasons for putting them in chain. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000827 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mly takeover: SC to hear pleas soon ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Rafaqat Ali ISLAMABAD, Aug 26: A full bench of the Supreme Court will take up from Sept 12, review petitions seeking reversal of its decision of validating the military takeover. The petitions were filed by Wasim Sajjad, chairman of the suspended Senate; Pakistan Bar Council, and the Supreme Court Bar Association. The SC office has listed the cases which will be heard in the week starting from Sept 12, but has not announced the constitution of benches yet. According to rules, a review petition is fixed before the same bench which has decided the case. The petitions challenging the military takeover were decided by a bench comprising 12 judges. In its verdict on May 12, the court had validated the military takeover on the basis of doctrine of necessity, and observed that oligarchy prevailed in the country at the time of the army action. The PML, in its review petition, sought direction to the chief executive for holding fresh election. The petitioners asked the court to withdraw the power from the CE to amend the constitution as it was against democratic norms and basic principles of the constitution. It maintained that if the removal of the Chief of Army Staff could be held invalid for the reason that he had not been issued a show- cause notice, then the removal of the holders of public office like the Senate chairman and speaker of the National Assembly should also be held invalid, as they too were removed in the same manner. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000827 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Devolution plan, poll reforms discussed: McKinnon, Musharraf meet ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Nasir Malick ISLAMABAD, Aug 26: Commonwealth Secretary-General Donald C. McKinnon met Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf to convey Commonwealth's "concern" about the delay in announcing a time-frame for return to democracy. "Mr McKinnon conveyed Commonwealth's concern about (the delay in announcing the) time-table for return to democracy," the secretary- general's spokeswoman told Dawn. The 45-minute meeting, which was held in a friendly atmosphere, was termed by the spokeswoman "intensive, fruitful, and extremely constructive." Asked whether the secretary-general had asked the CE for a date for holding the election, the spokeswoman said: "I cannot comment on that. We are not saying anything more, but you can ask the secretary-general about this at his (news) conference tomorrow." "The secretary-general did inform the chief executive that he has come to convey C'wealth's concern," she said. The spokeswoman said that the secretary-general had discussed several other issues with the CE, including electoral reforms and the devolution plan. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000828 ------------------------------------------------------------------- McKinnon calls for democracy in 2 years: CE gave no timeframe ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Nasir Malick ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: Commonwealth Secretary-General Donald C. McKinnon asked the military regime to return to democracy within two years, and ruled out Pakistan's going back to the 52-member group in the near future. The Commonwealth expected the government to move towards elections as rapidly as possible, and "naturally we hope it would happen within the two-year time-frame as set down by the Commonwealth leaders," the secretary-general told reporters at the end of his two-day visit to Pakistan. He would present his report to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CWMAG) meeting to be held in New York in two weeks. The CWMAG has invited Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar to give the government's point of view as well as answer questions from the CWMAG on various issues that the secretary-general may raise in his report. The secretary-general hinted that the foreign ministers may also meet Pakistan politicians and other members of the civil society. After reviewing the secretary-general's report, the CWMAG would recommend to the foreign ministers whether Pakistan should remain suspended or be taken back. But, the secretary-general said that there was little hope the CWMAG would be recommending to the foreign ministers to lift the suspension. "Given what they are clearly reading themselves, given the precedents of other (CW member) countries who are in the same category (under military rule), I would not expect them to recommend that Pakistan come back into the Commonwealth fold immediately," Mr McKinnon told a questioner. He dispelled the impression that the Commonwealth attitude towards the government had softened. "The attitude of the Commonwealth hasn't really changed and there is certainly no softening of our stance," he asserted. "We do want to see a rapid return to democracy. We do not see any acceptability in the military regime and we do want to see rapid return to democracy." The secretary-general admitted he had failed to get any commitment from the CE about the timeframe for returning to democracy. "The chief executive did not give any commitment but said he would complete his task within the time given by the Supreme Court. He was very clear in mind that everything would be in place in that period of time." Asked what the government officials thought about Pakistan's expulsion from the Commonwealth, the secretary-general said: "Generally, they were critical of the way the Commonwealth has treated them but my response was that Commonwealth had no other option after the military took over in Pakistan." He, however, said that the organization was not looking backwards but forward. "I am more concerned about future." In reply to another question, the secretary-general said the international community was concerned because of political and economic instability in Pakistan. "People in the region as well as other countries do worry if Pakistan becomes a very unstable state," he said, adding that Pakistan was active as an economic entity but could do much better. "We all have to encourage Pakistan to return to democracy." Mr McKinnon said he had placed a formal request with the government for a meeting with Nawaz Sharif but did not receive a reply. He said some of the politicians had cast aspersions on the independence of the election commission as well as the independence of judiciary. People, he said, were also concerned about the devolution plan as well as the ban on the political parties to participate in the local bodies elections. "These are the sort of issues that will be addressed when I present my report to the CWMAG," he said. The secretary-general emphasized that the strength of democracy lay in people's support. "You cannot impose a democratic structure upon people and expect them to live with it and accept it totally." Asked what would be the Commonwealth's reaction if the government failed to hold elections within two years as demanded by the organization, Mr McKinnon said that when the CW heads would meet in October next year they would review the situation. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000827 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Commonwealth help to be welcomed ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Hasan Akhtar ISLAMABAD, Aug 26: Pakistan will welcome the assistance of the Commonwealth to its election commission and the role the Commonwealth could play to break the "odious nexus between corruption and politics in emerging democracies". This was stated by the Foreign Office spokesman in a statement issued following Commonwealth Secretary-General Donald C. McKinnon's separate meetings with Chief Executive Pervez Musharraf, President Rafiq Tarar, Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar, and others. The meetings were held in the context of the Supreme Court's May 13 judgment directing the military government to complete the election process and return to the constitutional democratic rule by October 2002. The foreign minister briefed the secretary-general on "major tasks" confronting the government regarding revival of economy, accountability, institutional reforms and rebuilding and strengthening of institutions on the basis of devolution of power to "promote genuine democracy in the country". Another statement issued by the government after an hour-long meeting with Sharifuddin Pirzada, senior adviser to the CE on law, foreign affairs and human rights, stated that Mr McKinnon was informed about the salient features of the devolution plan, accountability mechanism and the time-frame for election and delimitation of the constituencies. The difficulties in the preparation of election process and electoral rolls by the election commission by deleting the names of "fake voters" were outlined by Mr Pirzada. Mr Pirzada informed the secretary-general that the army and judiciary had their own mechanism of accountability as there was a Supreme Judicial Council to deal with such issues. He claimed that fundamental rights of people were not suspended. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000831 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Court summons Benazir ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Shujaat Ali Khan LAHORE, Aug 30: The Lahore High Court has summoned Benazir Bhutto on September 8 in a NAB application for transfer of all accountability cases against her to the Attock accountability court and ordered that a notice in this behalf be advertised in newspapers as service by normal means has not been found possible. Chief Justice Falak Sher, who took up a host of transfer applications on Wednesday and fixed Sept 8 as the date of their hearing, allowed the National Accountability Bureau to withdraw an identical plea in respect of an assets' declaration reference against Begum Nusrat Bhutto, who too could not so far be served. The application was withdrawn in view of the difficulty being faced by the NAB in prosecuting the ailing, self-exiled wife of late premier Z. A. Bhutto. The pending application and the reference are impeding the hearing of other references. In the plea for transfer of cases against Ms Bhutto's spouse, Asif Ali Zardari, the CJ allowed his counsel, Abdus Sattar Najam, to see him and seek instructions from him in Karachi on Sept 3. NAB Prosecutor-General Farooq Adam Khan and Deputy Attorney- General Naveed Rasool Mirza undertook to ask the Karachi NAB office to extend all possible help to facilitate a meeting on the due date, though Mr Zardari is being held in judicial custody in one case and is serving jail term in another. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Case against Nusrat Bhutto: hearing on 11th ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter LAHORE, Sept 1: An accountability court fixed Sept 11 for proceedings in a reference against Begum Nusrat Bhutto. The court was informed that the NAB had withdrawn its application for transfer of the case to Attock. It is alleged that Begum Bhutto possessed assets which were disproportionate to her known sources of income. The case was initially filed under the Ehtesab Law in 1997. The court has summoned all the relevant parties in the case on the next date of hearing. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000830 ------------------------------------------------------------------- FIA not being disbanded, says minister ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Aug 29: The FIA is not being disbanded but there is a plan to restructure it, federal Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said while talking to newsmen. He confirmed that more than 40 FIA officials had been arrested and that further action against them was being considered. The minister added that the government had no immediate plans to publish the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000831 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No Israeli technology transfer to Pakistan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Aug 30: The question of any military technology transfer from Israel to Pakistan does not at all arise and is totally irrelevant in the present circumstances. This was stated by a Pakistan embassy spokesman when he was asked to comment on a mention of Pakistan being one of the possible buyers, along with India, China and Russia, of Israeli military technology if such technology was developed. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Probe demanded into MQM charges against ISI ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: The Pakistan People's Party has demanded of the government to make clear its stand about a recent statement of MQM chief Altaf Hussain in which he had accused certain members of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of acting against the national interests. This demand was made by Syed Khurshid Shah, a former federal minister of the PPP government and deputy leader of the opposition in the National Assembly. In an open letter addressed to Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf, the MQM chief had alleged that some members of the ISI had had been acting against the interests of the country by having links with RAW. Mr Hussain had also questioned the role of these ISI members in the crash of C-130 plane carrying Gen Zia-ul-Haq and other military generals, the failure of the an unexplained Operation Black Cobra and the cleansing of patriotic elements from the ISI. Mr Hussain did not name the patriotic elements which he claimed had been removed from the ISI. He also claimed that some ISI members had been acting against the national interests for a long time in exchange for heavy amount of money from RAW and other foreign intelligence agencies. The PPP leader said that these allegations were serious and needed immediate reply from the military government. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000827 ------------------------------------------------------------------- JCSC meeting ------------------------------------------------------------------- RAWALPINDI, Aug 26: Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf presided over a meeting of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee at Joint Staff Headquarters. The meeting was attended by the services chiefs and senior military officers from ministry of defence. During the meeting matters related to defence, national security and other professional aspects were discussed. Restructuring of defence wings of Pakistan missions abroad and certain other important tri-services matters like merging of directorate general military production units were also deliberated upon.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000829 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Formal talks to resolve PIA, Sabre tiff begin ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Aug 28: Formal talks focusing on disputes between PIA and Sabre Group took place between their representatives on August 26 and 27. Contrary to various previous reports in the press, PIA and Sabre did not meet in London in July. According to PIA, its representatives were in London in late July for finalizing the PIA's Defence and counter claim in ICC arbitration currently going on in London. Contrary to some recent reports in national newspapers, PIA has not settled the dispute with the Sabre. PIA said that in the event of any settlement, it would let the facts be known in an appropriate and proper manner and, therefore, unofficial reports of settlement are nothing more than rumors based upon misinformation. Similarly, according to the airline, the recent extraordinary claims as to the sums which an Arbitral Tribunal might find Sabre owes to PIA, are without factual or legal basis. PIA said the talks which took place on August 26 and 27 were conducted in the manner to be expected of two commercial organizations. These were amicable during which their representatives discussed their disputes at length and sought in good faith to find a solution thereof. The differences between PIA and Sabre are substantial, and could not be resolved in the present round of discussions. However it was not decided when further talks would take place, it was stated.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000829 ------------------------------------------------------------------- NRB, interior ministry told to mend fences ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ansar Abbasi ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: The Chief Executive, General Pervez Musharraf, asked the interior ministry and the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) to reconcile their remaining differences pertaining to police reforms. Credible sources told Dawn that the CE, while presiding over a high- level meeting held at the ministry of interior, said that most of the differences between the two sides on different aspects of police reforms had already been narrowed down. The interior minister reportedly told the Chief Executive that the interior minister at the center and home minister in the provinces should be made the chairman of the national and provincial public safety commissions respectively, as proposed by the interior ministry's focal group on police reform. The minister, the sources said, wanted an amendment in the devolution plan which envisaged that the national as well as provincial commissions would select their respective chairman on a rotation basis every quarter. The CE asked the minister and the NRB chairman, who was also present in the meeting, to sort out their differences through mutual consultation. The CE complimented the interior minister and his team who in coordination with the NRB had succeeded in formulating a comprehensive and implementable strategy to achieve this end. "Induction and promotions on merit, better facilities, improved pay and salary, equipment and a fool-proof system of monitoring and overseeing are some of the steps that are being initiated and would lead to greatly improving the functioning of the police, " the CE was quoted as saying. The CE directed that the proposed police reforms should be finalized and presented before the federal cabinet at an early date for approval. He stated that he intended to visit various police training institutions to meet the police officials of all grades and see the pace of implementation. The CE also appreciated the steps being taken by the ministry of interior and its departments to curb smuggling and said that maximum assistance would be given to them in this regard. Earlier the interior minister briefed the CE on the role and functions of the ministry with particular reference to police reforms and anti-smuggling measures being taken. He informed the meeting that after extensive consultations with the provinces, a new Police Ordinance was being finalized on the recommendations of the focal group and the NRB, to replace the 140- year-old Police Act of 1861. The minister also informed the meeting about the measures being taken to curb smuggling which not only resulted in loss of revenue but also damaged local industry, eroded respect for law and impeded the tax-paying culture. The CE, according to the press release, appreciated the interior ministry's initiative on arms control. The CE was told that with effective measures the display of arms had remarkably come down. The CE was also briefed on various measures being taken to create sectarian harmony. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000828 ------------------------------------------------------------------- GDA chief opposes change in constitution ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent RAWALPINDI, Aug 27: Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan warned the government against making amendments in the Constitution, saying if any attempt was made to tinker with the Constitution it would damage the integrity and solidarity of the country internally and externally. The Nawazada said if the Constitution, drawn up unanimously after a long struggle, was dabbled with by the rulers, the new constitution would never be made again. Dilating on the history of the constitution-making in the country, he warned that nothing would be more disastrous than the amendments made in the Constitution. He maintained all the four military rulers had one common meeting point of sticking to power. He criticized the devolution plan which was rehash of the former dictators' schemes of things. The GDA chief said the credit for crowning the country with the Constitution rightly went to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. However, the Nawabzada said the credit equally went to the then opposition for giving the unanimous Constitution to the country. The Nawabzada said without the Constitution, the country was like a rudderless ship. In his opinion the country without the Constitution was a state of jungle which was without a rule of the law. No country without the Constitution could function effectively, he stressed. He was critical of the amendments in the Political Parties Act and opposed any change in the Constitution. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000828 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials asked to get data from WAPDA: Understatement of income ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: Suspecting understatement of income sources in the tax survey forms, the government has asked the tax authorities to obtain WAPDA's billing and distribution data on area-wise consumption of electricity by industrial and commercial users. Officials concerned told Dawn that the data would be analyzed to determine the understatement of production and sales shown by the declarants through tax survey forms. On the basis of this understatement, these users have under-declared their incomes, they added. Figures on power consumption, as a yardstick for measuring the production and sales made in a given stretch of time by the manufacturers and the businesses has already been approved by the data analysts working on declarations made through survey forms. The benchmark has been adopted in view of the World Bank report (Energy Services for the World's Poor), launched last month, which points out that the un-billed use of electricity in Pakistan has caused numerous distortions in the economy. "We have decided that the electricity should be the major determinant in cases of under-declaration by manufacturers and large-scale commercial users. If the bills of electricity consumed by them are not compatible with the volumes of production and sales, declared by them through their returns with the sales tax department, and reflected by the tax survey forms, we would ask such companies and persons to explain the situation. If they are unable to explain, the variation between the supplied and consumed quantities would be deemed as 'discrepancy' caused to under-declare the actual sales", said a senior data analyst. When this correspondent drew the attention of the CBR data analysts toward the fact that the WAPDA, under a recently adopted practice, distributes the consumption not shown by the individual domestic/commercial/industrial meters installed in an area, equally among the consumers, which would mislead them in determining the actual consumption made in a given period by a given consumer. They said "good care is being taken of this fact. We are not going to determine the variations between the billed consumption of electricity and the production/sale declared in each case where a discrepancy is noticed. It would be only in case of large and glaring discrepancy that we would be advising scrutiny in this connection." When asked that the CBR itself had been opposed to the method of determining under-declaration on the basis of power consumption in view of the variations due to the model, make of machinery and the quality of raw materials used in production, they said: "The variation caused by these factors is not as misleading as some of the tax officials would suggest. "When data is being analyzed only to catch the large scale under- declaration, consumption does provide a fair benchmark for judgment." They pointed out that the input/output ratio was being currently applied as determinant for the manufacturing sector and power consumption for the value-addition. This method can be applied in measuring the large scale under-declaration of sales too. This practice, they said, would make the data on manufacture and commercial sectors more useful than initially conceived in this respect. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000827 ------------------------------------------------------------------- EC reviews voters lists verification plan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Aug 26: A three-day meeting of Election Commission of Pakistan to review arrangements for the verification of voters lists to be prepared by Data Registration Authority (NADRA), ended. The meeting, presided over by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), was attended by all the provincial election commissioners. It reviewed matters pertaining to new electoral rolls and holding of local bodies elections. The meeting was informed that NADRA would hand over new voters lists by October 15 after verification of names. The Election Commission would display the new lists in every constituency and would invite objections after which the lists will be finalized. Local bodies election would be held under the new voters lists. The Election Commission was informed that NADRA will start door-to- door verification of the electoral rolls from September 15. Under the new rules only Election Commission is empowered to prepare voters lists. The Election Commission, however, had made a request to NADRA to prepare the lists. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000831 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Kalabagh dam plan shelved: Cabinet decides to tap other sources ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Faraz Hashmi ISLAMABAD, Aug 30: The government has given up its plan to construct the Kalabagh Dam and decided to explore other potential locations, including the site at Bhasha, for the construction of new dams, official sources said. The decision to shelve the controversial Kalabagh dam project was taken by the federal cabinet. It was understood that the military government was unable to arrive at a consensus among the four provinces over the construction of the dam. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000901 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Changes in top army brass ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Aug 31: Chief of the Army Staff Gen Pervez Musharraf has appointed Lt-Gen Mohammad Yousaf, Corps Commander, Multan, Chief of the General Staff in the GHQ, replacing Lt-Gen Aziz, who has been made Corps Commander, Lahore, says an ISPR press release. Lt-Gen Amjad has been removed as Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau and transferred to Multan as Corps Commander. Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool, Corps Commander, Multan, has been appointed Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau. Lt-Gen Tahir Ali Qureshi, Corps Commander, Bahawalpur, has been posted as Inspector-General, Training and Evaluation, at the General Headquarters. Maj-Gen Javed Hassan has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant- general and posted as Commandant of the National Defence College. Maj-Gen Munir Hafiez has also been promoted to lieutenant-general and made Corps Commander, Bahawalpur. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000827 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan expels Indian HC official ------------------------------------------------------------------- By H.A. ISLAMABAD, Aug 26: Pakistan decided to expel an Indian High Commissioner's official P.C. Dey following the Indian demand on Friday in Delhi that Pakistani official Malik Mohammad Rafiq of the Pakistan High Commission, should be recalled by Aug 31. The Foreign Office informed the Indian Deputy High Commissioner here of the tit-for-tat action, requiring Dey to leave Islamabad by Sept 2. The charges against Mr Rafiq and Dey were identical; they were accused by respective governments of indulging in spying and in activities incompatible with the official status assigned to them including spying. Pakistan had stated that India had expelled 16 officials of its mission during the last five years. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- India rejects reports on peak issue ------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW DELHI, Sept 1: India dismissed reports that a strategic Kashmir peak was under Pakistan's occupation despite last summer's conflict to evict" intruders" from the Himalayan region. The defence ministry in New Delhi said reports that the strategic Kashmiri peak, known as Point 5353, was under Pakistan's occupation was "motivated and harmful to India's security interests. "It is clarified that Point 5353 is on the Line of Control and not inside the (Kashmiri) territory under India's control," the ministry said in a statement. " The latest controversy on the issue appears to be motivated and is harmful to India's security interests," it said.- AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000827 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Balochistan, NWFP propose names on NFC ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Sabihuddin Ghausi KARACHI, Aug 26: The NWFP and Balochistan governments have proposed the names of four retired bureaucrats to the federal government for representation of their provinces on the reconstituted National Finance Commission. Well placed sources said that the NWFP government has proposed two names, one of a retired chief secretary and second of an ex-foreign secretary. The Balochistan government too, has proposed names of two retired bureaucrats both of whom were chief secretaries of the province. One of them had also represented Balochistan on the NFC earlier. The federal government has now to give concurrence to one name from each of the four provinces and it is now waiting for nominations on the NFC from Sindh and Punjab. The NFC is headed by the federal finance minister and has finance ministers of all the four provinces on it. The federal government also nominates one private member from each of the four provinces in consultation with the governors. One or more experts are also nominated on the NFC. Well placed sources in Sindh say that the provincial governor is in process of finalizing a list of two or three names in consultation with his advisors who are not part of the administration. The officials in the Secretariat have no information on the names being proposed as Sindh's private member on the NFC. "He would be someone who would go along very well with Sindh's finance minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh" a retired bureaucrat said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000829 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Draft law on freedom of information circulated ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Aug 28: Federal Minister for Information and Media Development, Javed Jabbar circulated the draft ordinance to provide for transparency and freedom of information for eliciting public opinion and for formal thirty day public debate. The Minister presented the draft ordinance at a largely attended press conference. He said people belonging to the print and electronic media, journalists and those belonging to various segments of the society, can send their comments, suggestions and proposals and amendments for incorporation in the draft ordinance by September 28. He said the suggestions, proposals and amendments could be sent to the Secretary Ministry of Information and Media Development at Islamabad or even the comments can be sent on Internet on the website of Ministry of Information. He hoped that the government will present the amended draft before the cabinet in November for consideration and approval. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000830 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Over 2,600 cases referred to CE secretariat: Corrupt officials ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Aug 29: The Chief Executive Secretariat has so far received over 2,600 cases charging federal government's officials corruption or misconduct, sources said. Sources in the CE Secretariat told Dawn that most of these government servants were currently facing inquiries while others were likely to be charge-sheeted soon. The information about such officials is being collected by the CE Secretariat, following orders of the Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf. The provincial governments have also sent the names of corrupt officials posted in the provinces but in reality were servants of the federal government. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000901 ------------------------------------------------------------------- RBOD water to be drained into sea: Sindh stand upheld ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Faraz Hashmi ISLAMABAD, August 31: A major dispute between WAPDA and the Sindh government over the Right Bank Outfall Drainage (RBOD), project was resolved when the Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf upheld Sindh's point of view, that the drain should be taken to the sea instead of putting it in river Indus. The long outstanding controversy over the RBOD project was resolved after a "heated discussion" between representatives from Sindh, WAPDA and the Planning Commission at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf, official sources said.
=================================================================== BUSINESS & ECONOMY 20000830 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Micro-Finance Ordinance to be amended ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Jawaid Bokhari KARACHI, August 29: The Micro-Finance Ordinance 2000, promulgated on August 5, is to be amended to facilitate investment by foreign banks in the newly created bank of the poor and to make poverty alleviation program eligible for 100-150 million dollars from the Asian Development Bank. Sources said the charter of the Khushhal Bank (KB) created though the ordinance is expected to be reshaped to safeguard against political influence in the sanction and disbursement of loans, ensure transparency in its operations, and take care of the legitimate interests of the shareholders. Under diplomatic pressure, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has refunded to the foreign banks the compulsory subscription towards KB's Rs two billion paid up capital. The investment ratio was fixed at 0.2 per cent of each bank's deposits. Foreign banks hold 17 per cent of the overall bank deposits. According to one estimate the foreign banks' subscription was in the neighborhood of Rs 350 million, with contribution of bigger banks ranging between Rs 50 to 60 million. In a meeting held with foreign bankers, SBP governor Dr Ishrat Hussain also advised foreign banks to seek approvals from their head offices for taking equity stakes in the Khushhal Bank. If approvals were delayed, it was pointed out, the potential sponsor would not get the directorship of the bank. Sources said that the meeting was called, following representations made by US and European banks to their diplomatic missions that forced subscription for the KB was not justified and was sending wrong signals to foreign investors. The western diplomats took up the issue with Islamabad. The State Bank responded in a positive manner, says a banker. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- CBR amends ST refund rules: Exporters get 60-day facility ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ikram Hoti ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: The facility to avail sales tax refund to exporters has been reduced from 90 days to 60 days, the Central Board of Revenue announced. Stringent sales tax stock-verification clauses pertaining to verification of stock for claiming refunds have also been removed from the sales tax refund rules (STRR) 2000. CBR amended the STRR- 2000 through a notification No SRO 611, dated August 31, 2000. The STRR-2000 requires submission of certain documents for substantiating refund claims which in future, will not be required according to the new amendment. Audit of the stocks will not be as stringent as mandatory under the STRR-2000, however, scrutiny of stocks and documents only on suspicion of illegal claim of refunds will remain mandatory. The notification says, "sales tax officer-in-charge may, under circumstances of exceptional nature and for reasons to be recorded in writing, make or cause to be made further scrutiny or verification including examination of relevant business records and stock taking for determining the genuineness and admissibility of a refund claim". The clause pertaining to scrutiny on suspicion of illegal claim of refund has been retained in lieu of removal of the discretionary power of the tax official to probe beyond the limit specified under the Sales Tax Act, 1990, as the SRO says: the words relating to scrutiny of the refund-claim documents (as required under refund rules 2000) "to the satisfaction of the officer-in-charge", shall be omitted. The refunded amount is payable in 60 days in case of production of all the required documented, whereas, under the amended rules, 50% of the claim of payable in case of incomplete submission of the case, while remaining 50% is to be paid on submission of the complete case. It reads, provided further that manufacture-cum-exporters who make zero rate supplies and also make domestic supplies reflected in their monthly return may, ipso facto, deduct the amount of tax, payable on their domestic supplies from the amount refund due on their zero-rated supplies and claim refund only for the balance amount, if any. The statement showing the position of stocks of major inputs and outputs carried over from the previous tax period, additions in such stocks, stocks consumed or supplied during such period and stocks in balance, if any, shall be submitted by the refund claimants. The post refund-payment audit for scrutinizing the stocks and other supportive documents has also been one away with, under the amended refund rules. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- SBP cuts yield on fresh FCY deposits ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Mohiuddin Aazim KARACHI, Sept 1: The State Bank further slashed the rates of return on fresh foreign currency deposits of the banks by five to ten basis points to nip the evil of dollarization in the bud. That dollarization has been on the rise is evident from the fact that total placement of fresh foreign currency deposits of banks with SBP stood at $482.8m on Aug 31 up from only $323.8m at the end of May 2000. The $483m FCY deposits form part of foreign exchange reserves of $1.22bn. In other words net forex reserves stood around $737m on Aug31. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000828 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Large-scale deficit is unsustainable: report ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: The deteriorating state of governance has caused financial losses to Pakistan to the extent that the country suffered a 6.6 percent fiscal deficit on average in the last three years, the Finance Ministry has reported to international donors. "Review of the Economic Situation-1999-2000", compiled by the ministry, points out that "this large scale deficit is unsustainable". The weak governance has constrained Pakistan's economic growth and also contributed to low investor confidence, it says. "Governance problems have severely reduced the effectiveness of public expenditure, contributed to tax evasion and loan defaults, and the documentation of arrears in payment of utility bills. Lack of transparency in the government's decision-making, discretionary powers enjoyed by political office-holders and civil servants and weaknesses in auditing have resulted in high levels of corruption", it adds. Due to these factors, Pakistan's economy has faced serious difficulties for the last several years. These were compounded by persistent lapses in the implementation of structural reforms. The imposition of economic sanctions following the nuclear tests in May 1998 exposed the long-standing weaknesses and vulnerabilities of Pakistan's economy. The real GDP growth slowed down to an average 3.1 percent during 1996-99, slightly above the country's population growth rate. Slow down in economic activity is mainly caused by weaker performance of large scale manufacturing, sharp decline in real investment, and erratic behaviour of agriculture sector, it says. "The various dimensions of Pakistan's socioeconomic problems can be summarized further as declining economic growth; stagnant/declining tax-to-GDP ratio causing persistently large fiscal imbalances; stagnant exports causing serious balance of payments difficulties; declining public sector investment constraining future growth potentials; deterioration of physical infrastructure; poor state of social indicators; rising poverty and institutional weaknesses resulting in poor governance". The most stubborn problem in Pakistan's macro-economic and structural reforms is the long-term failure of fiscal revenues to rise as percentage of GDP. Large scale deficits in the 1980s (7.1 per cent of GDP) continued to persist in 1990s. "The major challenges facing the government today include: restoring investor confidence; reviving economic activity to achieve higher economic growth on a substantial basis; restoring macro-economic stability by reducing the budget deficit, current account deficit and maintaining price stability; arresting the increasing trends of poverty; improving social indicators; and above all, improving governance". It concedes that there is no quick solution to the problems. Effective and sustained implementation of the economic reform program will be essential for Pakistan to achieve its development objectives including poverty reduction. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000828 ------------------------------------------------------------------- IMF short package by year end likely ------------------------------------------------------------------- By M. Ziauddin ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: Pakistan is likely to obtain a one-year bail-out package amounting to perhaps a little less than a billion dollars from the IMF before the end of the current calendar year. This second but short emergency bail-out package, which is most likely to be designed on the lines of the Fund's standby arrangement, is reportedly being contemplated by the members of the Fund executive board in view of the precarious economic conditions Pakistan is facing at present. Most of the board members, some of whom also belong to the highly influential G8 states, are said to have come to the conclusion that in case they waited until Pakistan signed the CTBT, delivered on terrorism, resumed talks with India and restored democracy, its economy would simply collapse causing immense damage to the whole region. They also do not seem to feel comfortable with the thought of a nuclear country becoming an international defaulter. While bailing out the country, the Fund and the members with decisive votes on its executive board would like Pakistan to deliver up on the economic reforms envisaged in the proposed new package by perhaps linking the disbursements of quarterly tranches with benchmarks to be achieved at the end of each quarter. The Fund is said to have welcomed the imposition of the general sales tax (GST) from July this year, efforts to document the economy and unearth undeclared assets and also its recent attempt to make the rupee completely convertible. However, the Fund is not likely to disburse the second tranche of the new package if the government failed by June 30, 2001 to keep the overall fiscal deficit within the limits imposed by the current budget. The emergency package is expected to provide Islamabad the fiscal room to negotiate a second round of debt relief from the members of Paris and London clubs. Meanwhile, the government and the IMF-World Bank officials will continue to discuss a poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF) amounting to about $2 billion which, if all went well, would perhaps be signed by the beginning of the next fiscal year. The new round of debt relief is also expected to be a short one lasting no more than one year designed perhaps to keep Islamabad on a tight leash, on the political and economic conditional ties. In order to be able to achieve a second round in time the government needs to keep the IMF program intact at least for one whole year but to be able to do this Islamabad would need very badly to improve the CBR collection capacity. This seems rather a tall order under the obtaining economic situation. The tax revenue for the year projected at Rs435.7, in the budget estimates 2000-2001, indicates an increase of nearly 40 per cent as compared to the actual collection (minus the income from the amnesty and transfers from surcharges to sales tax) of last year. This is seen as an impossible task specially because of the overall investment situation as foreign investment has completely dried up while the local investors are desperately looking for avenues to smuggle their money out of the country for fear of being caught by the NAB. Also, the real estate business has completely collapsed in the country and the stock exchanges are no more than simply breathing. The proportion of non-performing bank loans have gone up in the overall loan portfolio because the percentage of performing loans has gone down as the rate of advances for new investment activities has come to a grinding halt. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000831 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Kuwait reschedules Pakistan's loans ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Aug 30: Kuwait has extended a $25 million relief to Pakistan under the "Debt Financial Arrangements", official sources said. They said that a delegation visited Kuwait last week and held talks on debt repayment. On August 28 the two sides signed an agreement. The Kuwait Fund has agreed to restore disbursement for the ongoing projects immediately on the receipt of agreed amount of down payment. It added that it would finance new projects. After China, Kuwait is the second non-Paris Club country which has provided the country relief in debt repayment. Other such countries with which negotiation are to be undertaken are Libya, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Czech Republic.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Weekend stock session finishes on weak note ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 1: The KSE 100-share index early opened higher and steadily rose by about 10 points but in the afternoon session it ran into weekend selling and ended modestly lower by 3.89 points at 1,514.38 points as compared to 1,518.27 a day earlier. According to previous announcement, the new recomposed KSE 100-share index having in its fold 85 per cent of the total market capitalization was to make debut on Sept 1, but there was no official word on whether or not its introduction has been postponed for some technical reasons. Chemical and pharma shares responded to some positive developments on the import front and advent of foreign buying in most of the leading MNCs including Abbott, BOC Pakistan and Glaxo-Wellcome. The advancing issues were led by leading textile and energy shares, leading gains among the Ruby Textiles, Yousuf Textiles, Umer Fabrics, Shell Pakistan and Pakistan Oil fields rising by one rupee to Rs10.00 Other good gainers were led by New Jubilee Insurance, Dadex, General Tyre, Singer Pakistan and BOC Pakistan, up by one rupee to Rs1.50. Losses on the other hand were mostly fractional, barring PSO, and Philips Shell Pakistan which fell by Rs 2.35 to 4.00 respectively on active selling. Other prominent losers included EFU General Insurance, Mian Textiles, Nishat Mills, Millat Tractors, Colgate Pakistan and Knoll, falling by one rupee to Rs1.55. Trading volume rose to 118m shares from the previous 97m shares but losers managed to hold a modest edge over the gainers at 94 to 84, with 51 shares holding on to the last levels. The most active list was led by Hub-Power, easy 10 paisa at Rs 17.20 on 37m shares followed by PTCL, easy 10 paisa at Rs25.50 on 20m shares, PSO, off Rs2.50 at Rs173.40 on 16m shares, ICI Pakistan, lower 20 paisa at Rs13.30 on 9m shares and Telecard, up 15 paisa at Rs21.15 on 5m shares. Other actives were led by Sui Northern, off 20 paisa on 4.494m shares, FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, easy 15 paisa on 3m shares, Engro Chemical, steady five paisa on 2.601m shares, WorldCall, lower 50 paisa on 2.543m shares and KESC, up 20 paisa on 2.337m shares. DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Active trading was witnessed on this counter where 32,500 shares were traded under the lead of Suzuki Motorcycle, which fell by 15 paisa at Rs1.50 on 11,000 shares followed by Qayyum Textiles, up at Rs1.00 on 5,500 shares and Kohinoor Gojar Khan Textiles, unchanged at Rs3.00 on 5,000 shares. DIVIDEND: Nishat Chunia bonus shares at the rate of 100 per cent, Fatima Enterprise, bonus shares at the rate of 100 per cent, Packages, cash 42 per cent plus bonus shares at the rate of 10 per cent. Market at a glance TONE: easy,total listed 764, actives 229, inactives 535, plus 84, minus 94, unc 51. KSE 100-SHARE INDEX: previous 1,518.27, Friday's 1,514.38, minus 3.89 points. TOP TEN: gainers Lever Brothers Rs43.00, Pakistan Oilfields 10.00, Ruby Textiles 4.50, Yousuf Textiles 2.00, Umer Fabrics 1.75. LOSERS: Shell Pakistan Rs4.00, PSO 2.50, Philips 2.35, Nishat Mills 1.70, Colgate Pakistan, Knoll 1.50. TOTAL VOLUME: 117.606m shares. VOLUME LEADERS: Hub-Power 36.922m, PTCL 20.079m, PSO 15.828m, ICI Pakistan 8.508, Telecard 4.772m shares.Back to the top
=================================================================== EDITORIALS & FEATURES 20000827 ------------------------------------------------------------------- General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ardeshir Cowasjee "HEY charia," blustered Ali Yahya Khan on the telephone last week, "you are nearly dead. When do you intend writing the book on my father that you promised to write when he died? I sent you all the material you need long ago. Now is the time, with the Hamoodur Rahman report having again surfaced." "Patience," I replied. "History cannot be hurried. By the way, since this is open season for many of our famous and infamous generals' sons to confess how many well earned millions have been left to them by their hard-working fathers - Ejaz-ul-Haq and Humayun Akhtar Rahman, to name but two - are you prepared to disclose what you inherited?" Unprintable words floated down the telephone line from Rawalpindi, but regaining his inherited sense of humour Ali informed me, "I got the better half of London. You know that, you son of a..." Not even his worst enemy could say of Yahya that he robbed his country or its people. The 'Yahya Papers' left by the general will not fill a book. But now he allowed himself to be manipulated by mediocre megalomaniacs and our 'brilliant' self-serving politicians has been written about but not correctly or exhaustively. The last time I spoke to Yahya was in the mid-summer of 1976. Bhutto was in the throes of messing up what was left of our country. Yahya was then imprisoned in his own home at 61 Harley Street in Rawalpindi. He was standing on a raised plank (his shopping street, as he called it), leaning over his compound wall buying vegetables from a barrow-man. He waved me down and shouted, "Hey, Cowasjee, you got out of Bhutto's jail, now help get me out." "Difficult," I told him, "but hang on, it won' be long before he falls. If he starts jailing men such as me, he has to be weak." We exchanged pleasantries, wished each other well, and I drove on. A few columns, if not a book, are his due. Firstly, on Yahya's role on furthering peace in our world. That clever man, Henry Kissinger, wrote to Yahya on July 26, 1971 (such men can also gush): "Dear Mr President, "I have so many reasons to thank you that it is difficult to know where to begin."First of all, there is the vital role that you played in establishing communications between us and the People's Republic of China. Your initiative and discretion made possible the reliable and secure contacts that led to my visit and the President's forthcoming trip. You were also well served, Mr President, by your representative here. Ambassador Hilaly's part in the operation vividly demonstrated why he has compiled so remarkable a diplomatic career. "Then, the skill, tact, and efficiency with which your officials carried out my secret mission were nothing short of brilliant. I hope you will pass on my deep appreciation, and that of the President, to all those who realized this venture, including some of your closest advisers, the military personnel who paved our way to and from the airport, and the captain and crew of your airplane. My colleagues and I were greatly moved by the historic nature of our flight and the care and warmth with which we were treated as we crossed some of the world's highest mountains. "Mr President, the deepest thanks go to you who led and orchestrated the entire enterprise. I shall always remember your generosity in our talks on July 8 when you insisted on setting aside the massive problems that your country faces and concentrating instead on my visit to Peking. In addition, I enjoyed, and profited from, my too brief stay in Pakistan itself, the conversations we had, and the gracious Pakistani hospitality. "Your efforts and those of your colleagues have made indelible contributions to my personal experience, the foreign policy objectives of the United States, and I believe, the goal of peace in the world." On August 7, 1971, Richard Nixon wrote in his own hand: "Dear Mr President, "I have already expressed my official appreciation for your assistance in arranging our contacts with the People's Republic of China. "Through this personal note I want you to know that without your personal assistance this profound breakthrough in relations between the USA and the PRC would never have been accomplished. "I wish you would extend my personal thanks to your Ambassador in Washington and to your associates in Pakistan for their efficiency and discretion in handling the very sensitive arrangements. "Those who want a more peaceful world in the generations to come will forever be in your debit. "Dr Kissinger joins me in expressing our deepest gratitude for the historic role you played during this very difficult period." When Bhutto took over power, Yahya was held in captivity, firstly incommunicado in a forest bungalow in Banni and then later in his own house. Throughout this period there were many who urged him to write, including his son Ali and his nephew Ahmed Ali (who as a captain and then a major had been his ADC from April 1966 to December 1969). A note from Ahmed Ali's diary in May 1974 records; "Are you writing a book these days, Sir?" "No, my son, books are written when the chapter is closed. This chapter is still very much open." Two years later, Yahya started making notes. The originals, written in his own hand, are safe in a vault. A photocopy was sent to me by Ali: "May 27 1976, 'Yahya Speaks': "For the last 10 years, I have been urged by many friends to write my life history and about important events that have occurred because these are so important that future generations were bound to benefit by it. "I, of course, never believed in writing a book, so time passed. It was only last night, May 26, that while looking at a television programme, 'Azadi ke Mujrim', wherein the last Mughal King's 'trial' by a British Military Court was shown. In this TV show, Bahadur Shah Zafar who was being tried for 'Gaddari' and how the real facts were distorted by lie, fraud, deceit and propaganda and how an imaginary young man of the 20th century advocated Bahadur Shah Zafar's case, proved that history does not always speak the truth but could be distorted by unscrupulous rulers. This made me think, because we were passing through a similar period of lies, fraud, deceit and propaganda and the distortion of facts and history. "Am I, who is in a position to inform the nation and the world, going to let history be distorted and innocent persons maligned by a mean and unscrupulous person? "So today, I have decided to speak. I have so much to say, right from my childhood and throughout my army service, right up to the end of 1971 that it would all need many volumes. I have no intention of doing this. I will start noting some important events. "Hitler's propaganda Minister, Dr Josef Goebbels had said - 'tell so many lies so many times that people start believing them as truth' (or words to that effect). Nobody has been a more faithful student of Dr Goebbels than Shora." 'Shora' Who, what, I asked Ali. It was Yahya's nickname for Bhutto. In Persian slang it means 'a drooping lower lip', like that of a camel. (To be concluded) DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000901 ------------------------------------------------------------------- The quality of Pakistani dictatorship ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ayaz Amir Of Pakistani democracy I do not despair. I stopped grieving for it a long time ago having realized through personal observation that as a nation we have no genius for the thing. The virtue of consultation and a tolerance for the vagaries of human nature, the two essential prerequisites for democracy, we quite simply lack. We are a nation of individual fanatics each of whom wants to convert everyone else, at the point of the gun or the bayonet if it comes to that, to his point of view. This evangelical strain sits ill with democracy. What I despair about is Pakistani dictatorship. With our long and repeated experience of this phenomenon we should have succeeded in producing a workable dictatorial model. But we have done nothing of the sort. Each dictatorship begins from scratch. Reinventing the wheel is a metaphor or rather cliche worked to death since the latest military takeover. But it describes our predicament best. Pakistani would-be redeemers do not begin from where the last one left off. They begin from the beginning, which is not only a waste of time but also productive of boredom. How many times can you watch the same performance, the same bumbling steps and the same promises to usher in a golden age? Authoritarianism can be efficient. It can also be corrupt and enervating. After all, who fires its engines? Military and civil bureaucrats plus a sprinkling of civilian collaborators out hunting for jobs. As simple as that. If the quality of this intake is good, the results will be good. If not, God help you. How do we fare in this regard? Whether earlier times produced a better class of mandarins (the myths in this respect being very potent) I cannot say. But what I have seen with my own eyes, from the Zia era till now, leaves a dispiriting impression behind: higher bureaucrats who in any clime would be considered as astounding specimens of human incompetence. The official obsessed with rank, protocol and a sense of his own importance is an enduring literary type. But the asses we manage to produce would take the prize anywhere. As if civil service asses were not bad enough, military officers who should be proud of their uniform and the profession of arms want nothing as badly in a military government as to win a civil service posting. It should therefore surprise no one if a veritable horde of officers have seized supposedly cushy civilian jobs since the Musharraf takeover. Obviously, the dictum that all politics is about jobs remains true whether democrats or dictators are running the show (or the pantomime) in Islamabad. What is also true is that Pakistan's governing class is knit closely together by a sense of shared values: plots, houses, land in Bahawalpur and a foreign education for the loved ones, with nothing remotely approaching culture leavening this mass. This is one side of the picture. The other side is provided by the blurring of any distinction that might have existed between public service and private gain. In fact, public office has come to be taken as the surest way of getting rich. That is why till very recently bright lads wanted to get into the civil service, police and customs because these jobs brought perks and privileges and the prospect of future gain. There is nothing wrong with wanting to get rich. Did not Comrade Deng say 'to be rich is glorious'? The problem is different. Wherever the spirit of enterprise flourishes, a different sort of individual pursues the paths of wealth and an altogether different sort goes in for public service. H. L. Mencken (perhaps the only journalist who will ever sup with the gods) says this of the early American Republic, "Setting aside religion, (politics) was literally the only concern of the people. All men of ability and ambition turned to it for self-expression." In the 18th and early 19th centuries, politics drew "the best literary talent into its service - Franklin, Jefferson and Lincoln may well stand as examples..." A far cry from Pakistan where, exceptions apart, third-raters enter politics proper while the more talented enter the administration (which is also a form of politics) not for any fantasy about self- expression but simply to get up the ladder of self-advancement. How do we draw a line in the sand? How do we get the national renewal for which the patriotic classes in their cups pine so much? It will be hard getting this revolution from the standard-bearers of the governing morality which is the true ideology of Pakistan. And what about the people, whose poverty and helplessness every incoming government, with sonorous if repetitive platitudes, promises to alleviate and indeed in whose name the skullduggery of the Republic is carried on? To say that the people are lost, miserable or despondent, some of the favourite adjectives which leader writers and columnists deploy when the breast-beating mood overtakes them, would be wrong. The drawing room gliterati have only to emerge from their shells to see that in the real Pakistan, alongside the pain and squalor, there is also a great deal of purpose and bustling energy. But, vile contradiction, it is also true that the people are not fully in control of their lives. The state does not provide for them. It only makes life more difficult for them - just as under the Sikhs or the worst Muslim rulers.Its true functions the state has abdicated providing neither quality education nor quality health care. Nor indeed equal opportunity or justice of any kind. But it continues to oppress and thwart the people in every aspect of their lives. Just look at the police, an extortion agency; the district administration, all pomp and show and no purpose; the so-called nation-building departments, hives of corruption. It is a fine soup we are in: the country in hock to the IMF and other external creditors, the people kicked around at every turn by the state. If the people of Pakistan are still cheerful, as indeed they are (newspaper prophets of doom notwithstanding) their resilience and patience deserve to be applauded. What about the larger picture? The generals are in control and doing what anyone else in their place would do: strengthen and perpetuate their hold on the levers of power. The three years' timeframe for the conceiving of that mythic animal called 'real democracy' is a bit like that thought about which Ghalib said that it was good to beguile the heart. Do military saviours surrender their batons or robes of office just like that? It has never happened before in Pakistan but the nation, even as it tries to adjust itself to over- priced sugar and a worsening economic situation, is being told to suspend disbelief and await the unfolding of this miracle at the hands of this military government. Meanwhile there is the devolution plan which promises to empower the grass roots. A long night (or day) of the generals at the top and devolution below may seem a contradiction in terms but then this is the only show on offer: take it or, if you nurse political ambitions, be prepared to be sidelined when this process gets going. Meanwhile there is also the reported reshuffle underway in the army's higher echelons. Much ink is likely to be spilt about the likely implications. But never mind. When the rest of the national picture remains the same, what does it matter whether a particular general goes here or there? DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- The silly season ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Irfan Husain IT seems that we are once again in the midst of the silly season - a season, incidentally, that is longer than Pakistan's interminable summer. As various committees, think tanks and task forces submit their reports, the air is full of optimistic slogans and brave words. It is also full of hype and hot air. We are told that by 2005, textile exports will shoot up to $15 billion from the current $6 billion or so. Tourism will miraculously boom. Local body elections will usher in a period of "genuine democracy" that has eluded us thus far. The problem is that nobody is able or willing to explain satisfactorily how these castles in the air are to acquire a solid foundation. The textile industry is perpetually in a boom-or-bust mode where the size of the cotton crop determines whether mills will mint money or shut down. When the crop is large, prices fall and the industry thrives; when cotton prices shoot up as a result of a poor crop, our mills cannot compete internationally because of their inefficiency and the higher prices of raw material. How this cycle is to be broken remains unclear. For the last fifty years, the tussle between growers and textile magnates has continued with each side assuming they are in a zero-sum game where one side's gain is equal to the other's loss. As for tourism, fuged about it, as many Americans would put it. As fundamentalism and violence grow in our streets, it would be a brave foreigner who ventures the risk of enjoying Pakistan's scenic beauty and rich historical architecture. According to a foreign expert, out of the 400,000 tourist visas issued by our missions abroad last year, only 44,000 were to genuine tourists; the rest were given to relatives of Pakistanis who are now foreign citizens, and to businessmen. This means that on average, less than 4,000 genuine tourists visited Pakistan every month. Our neighbors, by contrast, earn billions of dollars through tourism. This summer, I spent three weeks in Spain and France, and traveled extensively by road. I was struck by the enormous volume of goods being transported across Europe in trucks from virtually every EU country. Huge lorries from Holland to Greece lumbered along the wide motorways to destinations ranging from Britain to Spain. Similarly, tourists in cars bearing a wide range of registration plates crisscrossed Europe. Borders seem to exist only in name: we were waved through without any official bothering to examine our passports and visas. It is clear that European integration is very much a reality, and millions of Europeans are benefiting. Currently, tens of thousands of young French men and women are working in Britain, and five million Britons have bought holiday homes in France. These are only two examples of how vision, cooperation and political will have transformed the face of Europe. Ancient animosities and rivalries have moved from the battlefields to sports stadia. The free movement of goods and people across frontiers has erased bitter memories of past wars. On our subcontinent, we have been unable to make much headway despite the creation of the South Asian club, SAARC. Despite professions to the contrary, travel between neighbors is an arduous affair with visas difficult to come by. Regional tourism is virtually non-existent, and trade even more so. Most of the goods crossing the Indo-Pak border do so illegally. While this smuggling deprives both exchequers of revenue, it does establish the fact that there is a demand in each country for the other's goods. The poisonous legacy of hate and suspicion that separates the two subcontinental rivals translates into huge defence and intelligence establishments that have a vested interest in fanning the flames of mutual animosity. The Kashmir issue has cast its baneful shadow over all of South Asia, not allowing the potential gains from regional trade and tourism to transform the area. We remain locked in a time warp impervious to new realities and ideas. Indeed, if anything, attitudes are growing progressively more rigid on both sides. While India, being a bigger and richer power, may be able to afford this madness, Pakistan is bankrupt through trying to maintain some kind of arms equilibrium with its large neighbor. We should not forget that the Soviet Union finally imploded because of its efforts to achieve military parity with the United States. In this day and age, the strength of an economy is the true indicator of a nation's power, and not the size of its army. A poor nation with pathetically low literacy rates simply cannot acquire and maintain the modern weapons systems that are needed to mount a credible deterrent. For this reason, both India and Pakistan have invested heavily in their respective nuclear programs. Against this backdrop of rising tension and growing militarization, it is difficult to see how South Asia will reap the benefits of economic cooperation. ASEAN in South-East Asia, NAFTA in North America, and the European Union all provide models of successful regional collaboration. In all these trading blocs, rivalries and enmities have been set aside in the interest of mutual benefit through ever-expanding commercial ties. To our misfortune, the gulf between India and Pakistan has not yet been bridged by the clear advantage accruing to both through a peaceful settlement of their differences. But economic realities may concentrate minds in a way logic and common sense have been unable to. The recent cease-fire offered by Hizbul Mujahideen in Kashmir was a clear signal sent by Pakistan's military rulers. Although this initiative fizzled out, it does hold out a ray of hope that the thinking in GHQ may be changing. One proposal that has been on the table for a long time needs to be dusted off and re-examined: Kashmir can be put on the back-burner while trade and travel opened up to improve the political environment. After a period of, say, five years, the thorny Kashmir dispute can be tackled; during this interim period, relations between the two countries will hopefully improve, and some amicable solution found. It is a fact that while governments come and go, personalities change and economies rise and fall, geography is one constant nobody can alter. Like it or not, Pakistan and India are neighbors, and it is high time they realized it.
=================================================================== SPORTS 20000828 ------------------------------------------------------------------- South Africa clinch Singapore trophy: Pakistan go down by 93 runs ------------------------------------------------------------------- SINGAPORE, Aug 27: A whirlwind partnership by Gary Kirsten and Nicky Boje paved the way for a 93-run South African victory over Pakistan in the final of the 2000 Singapore Challenge cricket tournament. South Africa made 197 for seven at the end of their 35 overs, with a further 17 runs added under the Duckworth-Lewis system for a rain disrupted innings, leaving Pakistan a target of 215. But the task was beyond Pakistan who were unable to recover from a middle-order collapse and were all out for 121 in the 29th over. Boje, the Man-of-the-Match, was promoted up the order to join Kirsten when South Africa were struggling at 29 for two after 10 overs, and desperate to revive their game plan of a brisk start. They took the score to 70 off 15 overs when rain forced a three-hour delay after which the pair carried on where they had left off. Boje cut and pulled with authority to reach his half century off 36 deliveries with six fours and a six. Kirsten reached his third 50 of the tournament off 57 balls with five fours. The pair of left- handers put on 41 runs in their first five overs together, before a two-hour rain interruption, then returned to the wicket to continue their no-holds barred attack. When Azhar Mahmood bowled Kirsten to break the partnership, Kirsten and Boje had put on 97 runs in 82 balls and lifted the run rate to nearly 5.5. Kirsten, the Man-of-the-Series, scored 62 off 77 balls, while Boje who was out soon after faced 48 balls for his 54 which included six fours and a six. Daryll Cullinan, who had been out of sorts in the early matches in the series, found form at the right time for South Africa and was unbeaten on 31 from 23 balls at the end. The batsmen were particularly heavy on Abdur Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood. Although Razzaq did pick up two wickets he went for 54 in his seven overs and Azhar took one for 48. Fielding lapses hurt Pakistan, with Cullinan and Boje both surviving chances. On a slow outfield because of the rain, 215 runs at over six an over was always going to be difficult for Pakistan. Trying to force the pace cost early wickets with Imran Nazir out in the second over, Yousuf Youhana in the sixth and Salim Elahi in the 10th. Saeed Anwar and Ijaz Ahmed put on 39 for the fourth wicket before Saeed was run out for 24, starting a middle-order collapse in which three wickets fell in the space of 11 balls for just two runs, and Pakistan never recovered. "In the past few years we've played badly in finals, so it's nice to play well when it really counts," South African captain Shaun Pollock said, singling out the Kirsten-Boje partnership as crucial to their win. "We decided that it was easier to score up front, that's why Nicky Boje was promoted up the order and he played superbly well with Gary. And once the rain interruption was over the guys carried on ... and scored at a great rate." Pakistan captain Waqar Younis was left to regret a match of missed opportunities. "The fielding really let us down. It wasn't the (South African) runs it was the dropped catches," he said. AFP/Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000829 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Waqar blames poor fielding for defeat ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Correspondent LAHORE, Aug 28: The Pakistan cricket team captain Waqar Younis blamed poor fielding as reason for losing to South Africa in the final of tri-nation cricket tournament at Singapore. However, the team coach Javed Miandad cited other reasons for the debacle in the final which Pakistan lost by 93 runs. Talking to reporters at the Lahore airport on arrival from Singapore, Waqar Younis said that had Pakistani fielders not dropped at least four catches, the result would have been different. Miandad said that change in number of overs due to rains and the rule which raised the target from 197 to 215 were the reasons which went against Pakistan. He said that Pakistan was compelled to keep Saeed Anwar in fielding for a specific number of overs, despite injury, because it only made him eligible to bat for the team. He said that the restriction of circle which had been reduced from 15 overs to 10 due to rain also affected the performance of the Pakistani team. He negated the impression that the change in middle order had damaged the performance of the batting department. These were tactics and some time proved correct and some time wrong, he added. Miandad said that overall the performance of the team was good. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000830 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 cricketers to face one-man inquiry body ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter KARACHI, Aug 29: Three Pakistan cricketers have been directed to appear before a one-man inquiry commission on Wednesday, highly placed sources said. Shahid Afridi, Hasan Raza and Atiq-uz-Zaman, accused of breaching the players' code of conduct on the eve of team's departure for Singapore, are being provided with an opportunity to clarify their positions. Brig (retd) Mohammad Nasir, who is the manager of the team, has been appointed as the inquiry officer by the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Lt Gen Tauqir Zia. After examining the cricketers, Nasir will submit a detailed report on the basis of which disciplinary action would be taken against the three players. The three players are accused of having invited girls to their rooms. Highly placed sources said Brig Nasir was assigned the job by the PCB chairman on Monday. Brig Nasir is reported to have carried out preliminary investigations. Javed Miandad, who was initially asked to prepare the report, will not be submitting the document after he succeeded in convincing the PCB chairman that his job was confined to the playing field. On Miandad's persuasion Brig Nasir has been appointed the inquiry officer since the off-the-field conduct of the players fell under his jurisdiction. Ironically, when this correspondent contacted Yawar Saeed, director of the PCB instead of giving a clear picture, he said: "I have been told by the PCB chairman to get the manager's report on the incident. I have not been given any deadline." Nevertheless, hours later, it was confirmed that Yawar Saeed was trying to hide the facts. The point to be emphasized is that if a highly responsible PCB official is not willing to release day-to-day news then who will? DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000831 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Players deny incident ever happened ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter KARACHI, Aug 30: The three Pakistan cricketers pleaded not guilty when they appeared before a one-man inquiry commission of Brig (retd) Mohammad Nasir, insiders said. Shahid Afridi, Hasan Raza and Atiq-uz-Zaman, who have been accused of breaching players' code of conduct, recorded their statements at the residence of the Pakistan team coach. Although the details of the meetings were not known, the trio asserted the incident never happened. They also denied calling girls and claimed they came to know about the `fabricated' press reports when they were in Singapore for the triangular competition. Brig Nasir, according to sources, has also recorded the statements of the employers of the hotel where the incident is alleged to have taken place. Brig Nasir is expected to submit his report next week to the PCB chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000901 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan beat New Zealand by solitary goal ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Aug 31: Pakistan's Sydney Olympic bound hockey squad, took a 1-0 lead in four-match series when they beat New Zealand by a solitary goal under heavy downpour in the second Test played in lights at Auckland. Sohail Abbas struck the match winning goal just before the interval by converting second short corner, manager Islahuddin informed APP on phone from New Zealand. The hosts held Pakistan to 1-1 draw in the opening Test also played in flood lights. Captain and goal-keeper Ahmed Alam, who recovered from minor injury, stood under the bar through the entire match, he said. Pakistan forced three short corners, two in first and just one in the second session. Pakistan will play two more test matches on Sept 2 and 3 before flying back to Sydney on Sept 4 to launch their training program on Olympic pitch on Sept 5. Team manager said he was fully satisfied with the build-up of the team for the Olympics.- APP ------------------------------------------------------------------- You can subscribe to DWS by sending an email to <subscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following text in the BODY of your message: subscribe dws To unsubscribe, send an email to <unsubscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following in the BODY of you message: unsubscribe dws ------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to the top.
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