------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 1 December 2001 Issue : 07/48 -------------------------------------------------------------------
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CONTENTS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS + Nuclear assets not at risk, says Rashid + Nuclear scientists' case hearing adjourned + Interrogation of Nuclear scientist at US embassy condemned + Non-Kashmiris terrorists: Benazir + Coalition rules out inquiry + Coalition has no mission in Pakistan: envoy + US would have attacked even after Osama handover, says Zaeef + Akram to represent Pakistan + 'Islamabad to accept Bonn moot decisions' + US ignores request for spares + 49 Pakistani fighters freed in Jalalabad + Assets of 152 Taliban officials to be frozen + Shahbaz wife, daughters 'made to leave' + Govt to take action against Shahbaz's wife, daughters + Non-Afghans' massacre: reprisals feared in NWFP + Policy soon to weed out extremist forces: ISPR + Security: US seeks data on air passengers + Pakistani Americans meet Bush + Most detainees are Pakistanis: US + Bid to cover up hate crimes in US condemned + Bonn conference agrees to form broad-based govt + UN staff leave Mazar for security reasons + Security enhanced to block Osama's entry + Consensus reached on role for Zahir Shah + CE optimistic about new Afghan govt + US, UK abusing power in 'war', says Chomsky + Benazir demands assurance of safety on return + Benazir suggests China model for Kashmir talks + Pakistanis sense US has failed to keep deal + US has no proof to get Osama convicted: Chomsky + Six Pakistan tribesmen killed in US bombing + US, UK plan for war in Somalia, Sudan & Yemen: report + CE, Indian premier may not meet + Efforts on for Pakistanis' evacuation from Kunduz + No Pakistan aircraft in Afghanistan, says official + Taliban office sealed, 20 held + Muttahida may set up radio, TV stations + Saif's arrest in murder case sought: Plea filed in PHC + 10 killed in Kashmir explosions, shootouts + 19 killed in Jherruk road accident --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + Japan to provide Rs5.3m for DPs + Chances for poverty funds bright: IMF + EU agrees to cut tariffs, raise textile quotas + KESC sell off plan finalized + Fake message creates furore in capital market --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + A free press Ardeshir Cowasjee + Noose tightens on Osama Eric S. Margolis + Pragmatism of the supine Ayaz Amir + Governments from hell Irfan Husain ----------- SPORTS + PCB to send Shoaib's footage to Perth + Wasim explains no-show act
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS 20011127 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Nuclear assets not at risk, says Rashid ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Nov 26: Government dismissed the apprehensions, if any, about its nuclear installations being hit by a stray bomb from the US-led allied forces. Responding to a question at a foreign office briefing, Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi, director-general ISPR, said that although a couple of stray bombs did fall inside Pakistan territory close to the border, no material damage was done. When asked about a possible misfire hitting Pakistan's nuclear installations, Gen Qureshi said: "It was ridiculous to presume such an eventuality as I have told you those were stray bombs which accidentally fell only about 10 yards away from the border". DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011129 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Nuclear scientists' case hearing adjourned ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Shujaat Ali Khan LAHORE, Nov 28: The Lahore High Court adjourned the hearing of nuclear scientists' habeas corpus petitions for submissions on the legality and propriety of detention of a citizen for questioning on a sensitive issue and of a notice to the President in the matter. Justice Khalilur Rahman Ramday heard the petitioners' counsel, Muhammad Ismail Qureshy and Mian Jamil Akhtar and asked at the end of hearing whether it would not be better for the detainees and their dependents to await their release in the light of official statements that there was no material against them and that they would be freed in due course. Mr Ismail Qureshy spoke at length about the contribution of the detainees, particularly Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, to the development of Pakistan's nuclear program. As for their links to Kabul, he produced copies of a commerce ministry letter to Mr Mahmood's Ummah Tamir-i-Nau Trust allowing it to import equipment and machinery for agricultural development of Afghanistan on the condition that they would ultimately be brought back to Pakistan. The authorization was issued in early September but the government policy underwent a radical change after Sept 11. The lawyer referred to the statements of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and his ministers praising the services of nuclear scientists to the country. He heavily relied on the President's latest PTV interview declaring that there was no material against the scientists and that they were being held in 'protective custody'. Mr Qureshy said the President's statement meant that there was neither any case against the detainees nor were they in preventive custody. The high court was thus all the more obliged to order their production. The question of a notice to the president did not arise. Nor was it in keeping with the dignity of the court to wait for their release. When Mr Qureshi cited a number of past habeas corpus cases, including the petitions filed for the production and release of Shorish Kashmiri, Chaudhry Zahur Ilahi and Maulvi Farid Ahmad, the judge observed that they were all politicians and the mala fide of the detaining authority stood proved. The case of scientists was different. While Mr Qureshi appeared for Mr Mahmood's mother, Fazilat Bibi, who moved the court on Monday, Advocate Mian Jamil Akhtar represented petitioner-lawyer MD Tahir, who filed a petition on Nov 5. He submitted that never before in Pakistan's judicial history, a habeas corpus petition had remained unheard for such a long time. He pressed for a production order as the scientists were being kept in unlawful detention. Nobody could be confined for mere questioning for over a month, he said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011125 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Interrogation of Nuclear scientist at US embassy condemned ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter LAHORE, Nov 24: The Pak-Afghan Defence Council's Punjab chapter condemned the arrest of Pakistan's nuclear scientist Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and his colleagues, and their interrogation at, what it said, the American embassy. Adopting a resolution at a meeting chaired by its president Hafiz Muhammad Idrees of the Jamaat-i-Islami, the council termed the scientist as a national hero who played a key role in making Pakistan a nuclear power while ignoring all international temptations. The way the rulers had recognized his services was condemnable, it said. It termed the arrest of the scientist and his colleagues an action inimical to the sovereignty of Pakistan. These scientists did not commit any crime and America was annoyed with them because they had pushed a Third World country into the international atomic club. The council urged the people to take stock of the situation and register their protest. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011130 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Non-Kashmiris terrorists: Benazir ------------------------------------------------------------------- SRINAGAR, Nov 29: Non-Kashmiris fighting Indian troops in the disputed territory are not freedom fighters but terrorists, Benazir Bhutto said in an interview published Thursday. "Let me clear here that non-Kashmiris are not freedom fighters and indigenous Kashmiris are fighting for their freedom," Bhutto told the Greater Kashmir, a daily in the Indian-administered territory. "I also call non-Kashmiri militants as terrorists," she told the newspaper in an interview from New Delhi, where she is on a private visit. Benazir had been asked about India's stand that Pakistan supports "cross-border terrorism" in the form of Islamic militants crossing the disputed border to target Indian forces. Pakistan considers the militancy in Kashmir part of an indigenous drive for self-determination. Benazir claimed her position may eventually be adopted by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, noting that she was ahead of Musharraf in breaking ranks with Afghanistan's Taliban. "What I say first is followed by Musharraf later," Bhutto said. Benazir said she opposed hard-line Kashmiri groups such as Lashkar- i-Taiba "which are trying to hijack the Kashmir movement." "We believe the people of Kashmir should be given right of self- determination. They should choose their own future," she said. Bhutto called for nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to resolve through dialogue all issues, including Kashmir, to avoid a repeat of conflicts such as the two-month confrontation in 1999 in Kashmir's Kargil district. "We certainly want to avoid conflicts like Kargil. We do not want it (the hostilities) to turn into nuclear war," she said. Kashmiri freedom fighters criticised Benazir's comments. Aasiya Andrabi, a female freedom movement leader, said that Bhutto, "who knows nothing about Islam, has no right to pass comments against the Mujahidin."-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011201 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Coalition rules out inquiry ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: The US-led coalition rejected a suggestion made by the Amnesty International for holding an inquiry into the killing of hundreds of Taliban prisoners at Qala-i-Jangi in Afghanistan. "There is no need of inquiry," coalition spokesman ambassador Kenton Keith told the daily briefing while dismissing the report in which the United States and the United Kingdom had been held responsible for the massacre. He said there was no evidence that the Northern Alliance had carried out the massacre of Taliban soldiers. On the bombardment of Qala-i-Jangi, he claimed that the Taliban soldiers had changed their status from prisoners to combatant by taking up arms. Mr Keith revealed that the United Front forces had captured Ahmed Omer Abdur Rehman, an associate of Osama bin Laden and member of Al Qaeda. He did not give any details about Mr Rehman except that he is an Egyptian national and required by Americans for interrogation. He hoped that the forces of Northern Alliance would hand over Mr Rehman to them. When asked that in the absence of an extradition treaty with Afghanistan how Mr Rehman would be taken to the United States, he said: "The absence of treaty does not mean that he cannot be extradited." He said once the alliance agreed on handing over Mr Rehman to the US forces he would be taken to the United States for questioning. Mr Keith had no information about the walkout of a participant, Qadir Khan, from the Bonn conference. "The conference has moved beyond the presentation of initial positions and has gotten down to the difficult business of narrowing the differences," he said. The ambassador did not disclose the number of casualties suffered by the coalition forces during the military operations. "I can say we have suffered casualties," he said, adding he would not be able to confirm the number. "Casualties do not mean deaths," he clarified. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011130 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Coalition has no mission in Pakistan: envoy ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: Coalition spokesperson Kenton Keith said that the coalition did not have operational mission in Pakistan. There are no coalition objectives in Pakistan, ambassador Keith said at his daily briefing when his comments were sought on a report that some British troops were on a search mission in a part of Balochistan near the Afghan border. The coalition had decided to respect the policy of the British government not to comment on the activities of British special forces, he further said. He clarified that there were some incidents of bombs falling inside Pakistan territory near the Afghan border but that was not the coalition objective. It just happened because the operation was being carried out so close to the Pakistan border. When asked whether the coalition would chase fleeing Taliban or Al Qaeda leaders into Pakistan, Mr Keith replied in negative. Pakistan, he said, was an active, enthusiastic and effective member of the coalition. Pakistan authorities, he added, were perfectly capable of guarding their borders and that is their responsibility. About massive killings in Spin Boldak, Mr Keith said when or wherever summary execution would take place coalition would condemn it. There is no place for summary executions or atrocities. However, he said, the coalition didn't have information about the killing of Taliban in Spin Boldak. "What we have learnt about the incident is that a Pakhtoon anti-Taliban group has killed the Taliban (men) there and not the Northern Alliance." About Mulla Omar's statement that coalition was waging a war against Islam, Mr Keith replied to say this was a war against Islam was a lie.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011130 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US would have attacked even after Osama handover, says Zaeef ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ashraf Mumtaz LAHORE, Nov 29: The US would have attacked Afghanistan even if the Taliban had handed over Osama bin Laden, Mulla Abdus Salam Zaeef says. Talking to reporters, he said a decision to attack Afghanistan had been taken much before the Sept 11 incidents and Osama's custody was used only as a pretext for the aggression. America, he said, wanted to uproot the Islamic system enforced by the Taliban and that was the major reason behind all what has been going on since Oct 7, the day the US launched its military strikes against one of the poorest countries of the world. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011129 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Akram to represent Pakistan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent NEW YORK, Nov 28: Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Munir Akram, would take over as the country's permanent representative at the UN headquarters in New York from April, well informed sources here told Dawn. Mr Akram would replace Shamshad Ahmad following his retirement in March. Mr Ahmad has been given three months to wind up meetings and conferences he has already been committed to. Mr Akram as Pakistan's top diplomat would seek a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council next year. He has lead Pakistan's mission at Geneva for the last three years and has taken part in vigorous debates at the World Trade Organization pleading the case of the developing countries. He has been involved in the talks at the UN conference on disarmament. He has also served as the first secretary at Pakistan's mission to the UN. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011129 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Islamabad to accept Bonn moot decisions' ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: Pakistan will agree to any decision, acceptable to a majority of Afghans, from Bonn meeting, Foreign Office Spokesman Riaz Ahmed Khan told a news briefing. He said Pakistan supported efforts for the establishment of a broad-based, multi- ethnic and representative government in Afghanistan. "Whatever is acceptable to the broad and large majority of Afghan people will be acceptable to us," he said. "We feel that all Afghan groups should be party to those discussions," he said. He said the results of the meeting should be acceptable to all Afghan groups. "It is for the Afghans to decide what they wish to do and what role they want to give, to what faction."-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011129 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US ignores request for spares ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: The United States pronouncements of lifting military sanctions so far remain meaningless for Pakistan armed forces as no request, made for much-needed spares, has been entertained by Washington, Dawn learnt here from authoritative sources. Defence officials concerned with procurement of spares, particularly of Pakistan navy and air force, had taken a sigh of relief after Washington announced lifting of military sanctions against Pakistan. But, their hopes of getting spare parts appear to be fading as they have not received any positive response despite sending repeated requests for these parts. A highly-placed defence official concerned with procurement of spares told Dawn that the manufacturers and concerned defence officials in the United States, when contacted by the defence procurement departments of the armed forces, replied that they had not been officially intimated by Pentagon about the lifting of military sanctions against Islamabad. "What is more disturbing for Pakistani officials is that they have been asked not to make any further contacts till an official notification was received by them," the official said. Islamabad's request for the supply of 28 F-16s fighter planes had already been turned down by the Bush administration and with the changing situation in Afghanistan, there is a growing fear that other pledges might not be honoured. The US had slapped military sanctions on Pakistan in May 1998, when Islamabad carried out nuclear tests in response to a series of similar tests conducted by its arch rival India. Though the imposition of sanctions had been generally regarded as a blessing in disguise, as it made Pakistan self-reliant in many areas, the need of military spare parts had not been totally over because of a wide-range of imported defence equipment used by the armed forces, particularly the air force. While Pakistan Air Force requires spares for its F-16 planes, navy wants spares for its PC-3 Orion and even for French helicopters, parts of which are being developed in the United States under license. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011129 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 49 Pakistani fighters freed in Jalalabad ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: The post-Taliban administration in Jalalabad released 49 Pakistanis who had gone to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported. The fighters are supporters of Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM). Negotiations are underway to secure the release of the remaining Pakistani prisoners, it added. Sources in the tribal zone say a number of Pakistani volunteers were killed early this month in Mazar-i-Sharif, with some 2,000 being listed as missing. -AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011129 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Assets of 152 Taliban officials to be frozen ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Masood Haider NEW YORK, Nov 28: The United Nations has asked all its 189 members to freeze assets of 152 Taliban officials, almost everyone who held a government post on behalf of the former rulers of Afghanistan. The 11-page list, posted by the UN security council sanctions committee, adds another 127 names of individuals, groups or businesses associated with the Taliban or Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network. Mulla Mohammed Omar, the Taliban's spiritual leader and founder, heads the list with Mulla Mohammad Rabbani, chairman of the council of ministers. The entire Taliban representation in Pakistan is included as well as its former consulate officials in various cities in that country. Trade and charity groups, some with their addresses, are named in capitals in each continent. The list includes the whole Al Barakaat financial network, a Somali-based operation, with branches in Europe and North America, the United States says was used by Al Qaeda. Other names are the Wafa Humanitarian Organization, with offices in Peshawar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. And the list included Afghan-related businesses, such as the Ariana airlines account in Citibank's New Delhi, India, branch and the Agricultural Development Bank of Afghanistan in Britain. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011130 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shahbaz wife, daughters 'made to leave' ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter LAHORE, Nov 29: The wife and two daughters of former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif returned to Saudi Arabia on Thursday evening after the Punjab government told them that they would be arrested in case they stayed back. During her stay, Mrs Nusrat Shahbaz met her father and other family members. It is said that the Punjab government conveyed to Mrs Shahbaz Sharif that she should go back to Saudi Arabia or face arrest. She was not happy the way she was being forced to leave her country. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011128 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Govt to take action against Shahbaz's wife, daughters ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ashraf Mumtaz LAHORE, Nov 27: The sudden return home of the wife and two daughters of former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif in less than a year after being exiled along with the rest of the Sharif family is being regarded by the government as violative of the agreement under which the Sharifs were sent to Saudi Arabia for a period of 10 years. PML(N) leaders were taken aback by the development and various leaders are interpreting it differently. Sources close to President Musharraf press secretary Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi denied any government deal with the Sharifs. They told Dawn that Mrs Nusrat Shahbaz and her daughters' return amounted to the breach of the agreement and the government would proceed against them in accordance with the law. However, they did not elaborate the kind of action likely to be taken. Mrs Nusrat Shahbaz met her father at the latter's Model Town residence where many other relatives were also present. Police kept the journalists away. Family sources quoted Mrs Nusrat Shahbaz as saying that some other exiled family members could also come back in the near future. It is said that Hamza Shahbaz met the Punjab home secretary and informed him about the return of his mother and sisters. No further details were available. Top PML(N) leaders contacted by Dawn said they had not been informed beforehand by the Sharifs that such a development was in the offing. "Their return to Lahore has no political significance", a party leader said on the condition of anonymity. He said the real issue was whether deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz Sharif or Begum Kulsoom would also came back. Those who had come back were the ones who were sent as a part of deal and no role of their own in any issue, he argued, apparently playing down the matter. Former press secretary to Mian Shahbaz Sharif, who is in constant contact with him even in Saudi Arabia, said that Mrs Nusrat Shahbaz and her daughters had come permanently and had no plan to go back. Pakistan, he said, was their home and they were not required to go back. The Sharifs were banished to Saudi Arabia on Dec 10 last year under an agreement which binds the former ruling family to stay out of the country for at least a decade. Hamza Shahbaz was the only member kept back in Pakistan as a guarantee against millions of rupees in loans the Sharifs owed to various state institutions. Abbas Sharif's son, a student, had come to Pakistan a few months after the exile of the family and was arrested. There have been reports that the Sharifs are setting up a huge steel mill in Saudi Arabia. Some people took these reports to mean that the Sharifs had given up the idea of returning to Pakistan. The impression that the Sharifs would now permanently stay in the Kingdom was strengthened when Mian Shahbaz Sharif divorced Aliya Shahbaz as his wife. Shahbaz had married Aliya against the consent of his parents who had never recognized her as a part of their family.The former chief minister had arranged a separate residence for her in Defence. The divorce meant that Shahbaz Sharif was either unable or was not interested to take Aliya to Saudi Arabia. Another PML(N) leader having close contacts with the Sharifs said Mrs Nusrat Shahbaz and her daughters might have come back to see Hamza. He said the return of the three members might herald the coming back of the remaining Sharifs from the Saudi Kingdom. He said on a telephonic contact during the past two weeks the Sharifs had sounded very optimistic about the change in Pakistan's situation. They had also claimed that they might return anytime. In his opinion, the Musharraf government might be under pressure from some important countries to allow the Sharifs as well as Ms Benazir Bhutto to come back to Pakistan to prevent religious forces from dominating the political scene. It may be pointed out that sources having access to the former chief minister have been claiming for quite some time that Mian Shahbaz Sharif could stage a comeback as surprisingly as he was made to leave the country along with the rest of the family members. They claim that the Musharraf government has rather a soft corner for Shahbaz Sharif. It is, however, not clear whether Shahbaz Sharif may strike a deal with the government, ignoring his brother Nawaz Sharif. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011130 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Non-Afghans' massacre: reprisals feared in NWFP ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ahmad Hassan ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: For fear of reprisal against the non-Pakhtoon refugees in the aftermath of the recent killing of Pakhtoons in Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul, the Pakistan government has decided to shift the Shia Afghan refugees to a new camp in Parachinar, Kurram Agency, official sources told Dawn. "Very soon about 4,500 Shia Afghan refugees, now lodged at the Jallozai camp near Peshawar, would be settled at a makeshift camp to quash fears of a confrontation among the refugees," they said. Hundreds of Mujahideen, most of whom were from Malakand and other parts of the NWFP, were in Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban. They were killed by the Northern Alliance troops in Kabul and then in Mazar-i-Sharif. As a result of these killings, there has been an angry reaction in the NWFP. Some religious leaders have even threatened that they will not spare Persian-speaking Afghan refugees living in Pakistan to avenge the killing of Pakhtoons in Afghanistan. "This has put the Pakistan government in a very difficult situation," the source said and added that the shifting of Afghan refugees from the settled districts to tribal areas is already in progress. Meanwhile, the chief commissioner for Afghan refugees, Syed Asif Ali Shah, has expressed optimism that food supplies to the war- ravaged interiors of Afghanistan will be resumed as soon as conditions on the Pakistan-Afghan borders at Torkham return to normal. The new administration in Afghanistan has secured the Torkham to Jalalabad as the convoys were escorted by armed men and Jalalabad- Kabul Road was already peaceful, he claimed. He denied reports about an order to stop the pre-registration of Afghan refugees at Chaman or Torkham. Talking to this scribe, Shah said the process of shifting of Afghan refugees from the staging camps of Chaman borders to the newly- established Roghani camp has started and so far some 10,500 refugees had been shifted. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011128 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Policy soon to weed out extremist forces: ISPR ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Hasan Akhtar ISLAMABAD, Nov 27: Pakistan will wait for the outcome of the Bonn meeting being held to work out the future Afghan government before taking a decision on the recognition of authority in Kabul. Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmad Khan told the daily news briefing that no government delegation was holding talks with any Afghan parties on the recognition issue nor had any official team gone to Dubai to meet Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani. However, he said, the government had maintained "contacts" with all Afghan groups. The spokesman conceded it was for Afghans to choose their government without any outside interference but said it needed to be remembered from the past experience that there could not be a durable government in Kabul if that was based at the expense of ethnic claims and interests. Referring to President Pervez Musharraf's talk show, ISPR director- general Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi told the briefing that the government policy to weed out "extremist" forces from society would be publicly known in the next few weeks. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011128 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Security: US seeks data on air passengers ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Masood Haider NEW YORK, Nov 27: The United States customs put 58 international airlines, including PIA, on notice to provide Advance Passenger Information Lists or their carriers and passengers would face intense scrutiny and inspections beginning this week. In a letter to 58 carriers, Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner warned of heightened inspections for those that would not comply with by Thursday, even though a new law gives the airlines until next year to start providing the required information. The American authorities now want advance information on the incoming flights to the several United States airports. A PIA spokesman told Dawn that the airline would comply with the request made by the US customs. "PIA is working on it," he added. But given the fact that all US-bound passengers are required to submit four copies of passport and visa information to the airline which also feeds it into the computer, such a list could easily be given to the US authorities by PIA. Many international airlines already offer the information to the customs. But Bonner is urging immediate compliance with the Advance Passenger Information System, which was signed law last week and gives carriers 60 days to comply. The letter was sent to 58 carriers, including Saudi Arabian Airlines, Royal Jordanian Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Aeroflot (Russian) and Air China. The US customs demand passenger's name, family name, date of birth, passport number, date of issue and expiry. "We recognize that the vast majority of travellers are not a threat to the United States," Bonner said in the letter. "However, we believe that in the wake of Sept 11, international flights pose a serious national security risk to the United States if carriers do not provide comprehensive and accurate APIS data," Bonner said. "Accordingly, for international flights where such data is not provided in advance to the US customs service by the carrier, it will be necessary for customs to address the security risk that such flights pose by, among other things, inspecting all hand- carried and checked baggage on every flight arriving in the United States." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011129 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistani Americans meet Bush ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Nov 28: A delegation of Pakistani Americans met President George Bush and senior administration officials at the White House to discuss issues relating to US-Pakistan ties and matters concerning the Pakistani community in the United States. Debt rescheduling for Pakistan and US economic aid were among the major items discussed, according to Mr Hanif Akhtar, President of the Pakistan American Business Association, and Dr Amanullah Khan, who is a member of the state's homeland security task force, both of whom were part of the 17-member delegation. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca was also present during the discussions. The composition of the delegation was said to have been decided jointly by the White House and some of the Pakistani American organizations. The question of the detention of Pakistanis in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks and instances of harrassment and hate crimes were also reported to have been taken up. President Bush, according to one participant, had told the delegation that he was cognizant of the problems being faced but underlined the need for thorough investigations into all aspects of the September attacks. He asked the community representatives to bring cases where civil rights were affected to the notice of the attorney-general. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011129 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Most detainees are Pakistanis: US ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Tahir Mirza WASHINGTON, Nov 28: More than a third of those rounded up after the Sept 11 attacks and still in custody are people of Pakistani origin, according to official figures released. Attorney-General John Ashcroft, under pressure to release details of those being kept in federal custody, said 641 people were in detention of whom over 200 came to the United States from Pakistan. These are among 548 held on immigration charges. Pakistan embassy sources had earlier said they had information about 70 of those arrested who were Pakistani nationals, that is, those who held valid Pakistani passports. The others must be those who had either applied for or acquired US citizenship or did not have valid documents and who had not informed the embassy of their detention. The issue was taken up with President George Bush by a 15-member delegation of Pakistani Americans that was invited to the White House for talks. The talks, on the overall picture of US-Pakistan relations, were mainly with National Security Council officials, but President Bush had also joined in for about half an hour. Pakistani community organizations, unlike Arab American associations, have generally not been very vocal about the issue of detained Pakistanis, saying that they have often not been informed of those who have been arrested or who have been victims of hate crimes and racial profiling. Mr Ashcroft said at his news conference that of the total number of 641 people still in custody, 548 faced immigration charges; the rest were detained on what he called federal criminal charges. The names of those on immigrations charges were not released, only the numbers and nationalities were detailed. The 104 charged with federal criminal violations were, however, named. According to Justice Department figures, of the 548 persons held on immigration violations, 208 came to this country from Pakistan. The vast majority of the others are from the Middle East, including Egypt (74), Jordan, Yemen, Iran, Algeria, Morocco, Syria, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. Twenty Indians are also being held. Being held at various lockup facilities nationwide -- including New York, where some are being questioned by the Justice Department's terrorism task force -- those in custody on immigration charges have reportedly been accused of a vast range of suspected crimes, from misuse of a passport to fraud. News reports said some were arrested after being found in possession of box cutters similar to those used by the terrorists who crashed three jetliners into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. More than 1,182 persons have been arrested since the attacks, although more than 400 have since been cleared and released. Forty- nine others face federal charges and are being sought or are free on bail. Mr Ashcroft alleged that some of those in custody were memebrs of Al Qaeda. Under vastly increased powers authorized by the attorney-general, 5,000 people, mostly of Arab descent, have been sent letters "inviting" them to cooperate with authorities in answering questions relating to terrorist networks. The federal government has also assumed authority to increase electronic surveillance of suspects. A leading member of the Senate judiciary committee, Senator Russell Feingold, a staunch opponent of the new anti-terrorism laws, said in a statement after Mr Ashcroft's news confeence that he was deeply troubled by the attorney-geneal's refusal to provide a full accounting of everyone who had been detained and the reasons for detention. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011128 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bid to cover up hate crimes in US condemned ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent NEW YORK, Nov 27: Pakistani-Americans in the United States have condemned the statement of an eight-member delegation of the Overseas Pakistani Foundation led by Saghir Tahir saying Pakistanis are not discriminated in US, nor being harassed by the law- enforcement agencies, or threatened by the locals. Shaukat Sindhu, Chairman of Pakistan American Association of North America, (PAANA) pointed out that over 1,000 Pakistanis have been jailed since Sept 11 attacks most of them without any charge. He pointed out that after Sept 11, one Pakistani citizen was murdered last month in Dallas, Texas, a former Pakistani journalist was beaten in New York City, one Pakistani Student was beaten in the INS Deportation Cell in the presence of INS officials, several other beating cases were reported from other parts of the United States. More than 165 Pakistanis were arrested by the FBI on suspicion of connection with WTC attack, most of them were shifted to INS in violation of the law. Mr Sindhu said that the PAANA had received hundreds of reports of hate crimes and discrimination daily. The association claims to have 60,000 Pakistani members spread all across the United States and Canada. Saying that Saghir Tahir, a member of New Hampshire legislature does not represent the Pakistani community in the United States, Sindhu pointed out that despite efforts of the Bush administration hate crimes against the Muslims in general and Pakistanis in particular continue unabated. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011128 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bonn conference agrees to form broad-based govt ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent LONDON, Nov 27: Afghan delegates attending talks in Bonn have agreed on the principle of forming a broad-based transitional government. The aim of the Bonn meeting is to form an interim administration tasked with paving the way for an interim broad- based government and later the holding of a Loya Jirga (council of elders). A UN spokesman said the first point in the agenda was to form an "interim supreme council" to guide Afghanistan through a period of transition to democracy, which the UN hopes will last not more than six months. A broader interim government is then to be agreed upon. Finally a loya Jirga would be convened to decide how the country is to be governed after the six-month period. The conference will continue for three to five days and will work to achieve an agreement on different issues on the agenda. The conference is being attended by four Afghan groups. Mr Younis Qanooni heads a delegation from the Northern Alliance. Among the other three groups is a delegation from the former king Zahir Shah, headed by Abdul Sattar Seerat. The "Peshawar group" is headed by Mr Hamid Gilani and the "Cyprus group" by Himayoun Jarir. The Taliban are not represented. During next few days the delegates will discuss the formation of an interim administration and the deployment of security forces in Afghanistan. Sources close to the conference told Dawn that a provisional council may comprise more than one hundred delegates sent by Afghanistan's different ethnic groups-from Pakhtoons and Tajiks to the Kyrghyz and Ismailis. Women are also expected to be included. The council will elect a chairman, who would be recognized as a symbol of national unity. The most likely candidate is the former monarch, Zahir Shah, 87, who is planning to return to Afghanistan from 28 years of exile in Rome. The day-to-day running of the country will be the responsibility of a chairman and his deputies. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011128 ------------------------------------------------------------------- UN staff leave Mazar for security reasons ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Nov 27: The United Nations security officer and staff of an international NGO have left Mazar-i-Sharif following insecurity, lawlessness and violence, UN officials said at a news conference. The officials also reported lack of security in Kandahar and Kunduz in addition to Mazar-i-Sharif. Speaking at the news conference, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan spokesperson, Hasan Ferdous, said the UN security officer in Mazar-i-Sharif was forced to withdraw to Termez due to continuing violence. Expressing concern over the security situation in Mazar-i- Sharif, he said an international agency has also reported the withdrawal of two of its staff from the city following recent clashes. "We are considering different access routes into the north from Turkmenistan due to volatility in the north and redeploying staff elsewhere," he said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011128 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Security enhanced to block Osama's entry ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 27: Pakistan stepped up border security to prevent Osama bin Laden from slipping across the border from Afghanistan to evade a US manhunt, a senior government official said. "The border has been sealed. The border levies (security forces) have been put on a 24-hour-surveillance alert and tribal leaders have been asked to prevent people from crossing illegally," said the official, who asked not to be named. President Pervez Musharraf said on state television, that the government had taken strict measures to foil any attempt by Osama to enter Pakistan. The official said the porous 2,240km border with Afghanistan was being tightly monitored with the help of tribal elders whom the government had asked to keep watch for Osama. "We have not left any possibility open that Osama can sneak in," he added. Border officials said the extra security meant that all crossings, whether formal border posts or informal routes frequented by smugglers or refugees, were being watched. But a source close to religious groups said it was impossible for the authorities to seal the border. "If Osama wants to come, he can smuggle himself in, though I doubt he will ever do that," said the source.-Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011128 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Consensus reached on role for Zahir Shah ------------------------------------------------------------------- BONN, Nov 27: Delegates participating in UN-sponsored talks in Germany to forge a new Afghan government are in broad agreement that the former king should act as a figurehead for an interim administration, diplomatic sources said. But the sources predicted the toughest hurdles would come over the appointment of a deputy, or prime minister, to ex-king Mohammed Zahir Shah, and the sharing out of the key portfolios of defence, interior and finance. "The hard talking will be over the detailed composition of an interim authority. There is already something close to consensus regarding its leadership," a European Union diplomat explained. He noted that 14 out of the 28 delegates attending the talks could be considered royalists, while the rest are not overtly opposed to the idea of the king as a "symbolic figurehead". >From the ethnic Pashtun majority, the king is also seen as crucial to winning support for a new administration in the south of the country - an area currently without strong leadership following the collapse of the Taliban militia. But disputes are expected to arise over the sharing out of key posts in an interim government, which in theory will pave the way for a Loya Jirga - or traditional "grand council" of elders - to decide the next step towards a formal government.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011127 ------------------------------------------------------------------- CE optimistic about new Afghan govt ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 26: Reiterating support for United Nations efforts to form a broad-based, multi-ethnic government in Afghanistan, President Pervez Musharraf has expressed the hope that any future political dispensation in Kabul will be friendly towards Pakistan. Guaranteeing Afghanistan's unity, stability and ensuring establishment of a broad-based multi-ethnic political dispensation were the basic parameters, he said and the whole world felt concerned and was making efforts in this behalf. The President said this while speaking at the PTV's News Night. "We recognize Northern Alliance and each composite group of the Northern Alliance. Therefore, there is nothing to worry about, whatever their role be in a multi-ethnic government," he said. He said there was a wrong perception that the presence of Northern Alliance in Kabul would be a security concern for Pakistan. "Pakistan has its own importance with regard to Afghanistan. Being a landlocked country, whatever government comes into being in Afghanistan will be friendly towards Pakistan," he said. He was responding to a question on the oft-repeated fear in the media that presence of Northern Alliance government in Kabul could be a cause of concern for Pakistan. "There is no reason why a future Afghan government, whatever it be, would not be friendly towards Pakistan," he added. On having a demilitarized Kabul, he replied that it was not a question of Northern Alliance or Taliban being there, "our assertion was based on our past experience that after the Soviets left Kabul there were atrocities." On the so called 'hands on' or 'hands off' policy towards Afghanistan, the President said: "Our earlier policy was in response to the policies pursued by the respective Afghan governments. "In my opinion, keeping in view the culture and the psyche of the Afghans, no solution should be imposed on them. One can only facilitate them whatever home grown political arrangement takes shape there, without any outside interference," he said. "Let the Afghans themselves evolve any future dispensation or any arrangement for themselves," he added. The President said that all the neighbours of Afghanistan would like to have a friendly government in Kabul, and I am sure, Afghanistan would itself like to have friendly attitude towards its neighbours. "We always emphasize the need for facilitation of any arrangement and no imposition," he said, adding whatever they want to do, they should be facilitated in resolution of any infight or disputes. This role is being very well played by the United Nations and Mr Lakhdar Brahimi and we support it. "A peaceful and friendly government in Afghanistan is required by everyone. All the ethnic groups in Afghanistan are contacting us and whichever government is there, I am sure, will be friendly to us," Gen Musharraf said. He said: "We have generally failed to grasp the term Taliban. "There are different ethnic groups in Afghanistan. While the people are clear about Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras, they are not clear on Pashtoons. We mix up all Pashtoons with Taliban. But the fact remains that all the Pashtoons are not Taliban. One is tribal order i.e. Afghan Pashtoons, which was dormant during the Taliban government; the second is the Pashtoon Taliban and third is non- Afghan Taliban. "The people opposing the Taliban representation in future dispensation, doesn't mean they are opposing Pashtoons. A vast majority of Pashtoons are there who are not Taliban. It is Pashtoon Taliban about whom the people have fears. Among them as well there are moderate Taliban who are changing their attitude or the dissidents who could be given representation," the President observed. About claim that Pakistan has been marginalized, the President said: "Pakistan cannot be marginalized. We are a frontline state in the fight against terrorism. As far as bombing in Ramazan is concerned, I did say that it will have a negative impact in the Muslim world but I never insisted on it. I do understand that until and unless the set military objectives are achieved it could be difficult to give a one-month pause in the action. But I did say that the military objectives be achieved before Ramazan. This I had been saying. "Secondly, not only Pakistan but everyone wanted that Kabul should be a demilitarized city. The Taliban sitting inside Kabul and Northern Alliance out of it. How can you make sure that Taliban leave Kabul and the Northern Alliance do not enter? We understand it is not that easy. Unfortunately, nobody could perceive the sudden retreat by Taliban which created a vacuum and the Northern Alliance drove into Kabul. But I don't think, all this has happened by design to let down Pakistan." The President said it was the whole coalition and the United Nations who wanted Kabul to remain demilitarized city, adding it was not Pakistan alone demanding it. "It is not a chess board, there are people who react to such situations, more so while there are so many ethnic groups having ethnic interests. Everything does not happen as one desires," he said. As for a military man, he said, certain strategic objectives were set and one used tactics to achieve them. "In tactics, there will always be some changes according to the situation on the ground and one should not bother the change in tactics. To say that Pakistan has lost its importance, due to change in tactics would be a far-fetched conclusion. We should not keep bothering about tactical changes. "There is no change in Pakistan's significance, and it is still a very important country," he asserted. He cited the frequent and unending visits by important world dignitaries, and emphasized that Pakistan remained a significant coalition partner. On the decision to side with Coalition in the fight against terrorism, the President said: We took that decision keeping in view our core concerns and national interests. "The core concerns are unity, stability and security of Pakistan, the security of strategic assets and the Kashmir cause. Our national interests are revival of national economy, diplomatic and international standing and prestige of Pakistan and the domestic environment," he stated. He said had Pakistan not joined the Coalition, our core concerns and national interests would have been endangered. Pressed to elaborate, the President said: "We were on the borderline of being declared or not declared a terrorist state. In that situation what could have happened to the Kashmir cause. Had we succumbed to the dictates of the extremist minority, the whole world would have acted against us and where could we go then. "By joining the Coalition, we have gained internationally and the importance given to Pakistan today in the United Nations and other countries could have never been so. Our domestic environment has also improved because Pakistan has rejected the extremist minority," he said. The President said: "The extremist elements have exposed themselves, and now I will move against them in a concrete manner so that the writ of the overwhelming moderate majority should prevail," the President asserted. "Due to the activities of this extremist minority, our exports were adversely affected and so was the economy," he added. "But it was a short-lived affair and we will come out of it. I am sure it will be corrected. In fact, it is being corrected. It is a win situation, all the way round," he stated.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011127 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US, UK abusing power in 'war', says Chomsky ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Nasir Malick ISLAMABAD, Nov 26: Prof Noam Chomsky accused the United States and Britain of being above the international law and using "unlawful force" in their so-called fight against terrorism. Giving a lecture at a function organized jointly by Dawn Group of Newspapers and Eqbal Ahmad Foundation at Convention Centre in the federal capital, the visiting American scholar gave examples of Sudan, Somalia and Nicaragua where the United States had been involved in the killing of thousands of innocent civilians. "Terrorism is a weapon of the weak, but mostly used by the strong", the professor told a glittering gathering of around 1,500 politicians, government ministers, intellectuals, scholars, academicians, serving and retired civil and military hierarchy. The two-hour lecture was followed by a question-answer session during which the American scholar answered questions relating to several current issues. The scholar said the US government's military action in Nicaragua was more "devastating" than the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. This was a reference to 1982 events in Nicaragua when Contras, who were fully supported by the American government, started promoting anti- Sandinista activities and carrying out attacks in which 30,000 people were killed. Prof Chomsky said Nicaragua was in no position to attack the United States so it followed a legal course by approaching the International Court of Justice, which held the US responsible for the events. Nicaragua then also took its case to the United Nations. He said instead of taking its case against Osama or other terrorists to the international court of justice or other similar forums, the United States attacked Afghanistan. "The US should have pursued the same path," Mr Chomsky said. "But the US does not want to establish that it is subordinate to anyone (in the world)." He said President Bush, on the recommendation of his speech writers, was speaking the language of violence by legitimizing the acts of violence in Afghanistan and in other parts of the world. Agreeing with a questioner that the US superiority had been "partly eroded" by the Sept 11 attacks, the professor said both President Bush and Osama bin Laden were almost speaking the same language. "While President Bush says they (allied forces) are going to drive out the evil from the land (world), Osama says they (Muslim militants) are going to drive out infidels from the Muslim land," he remarked. Mr Chomsky regretted that humans were not only engaged in the large-scale destruction of other biological species, but also of their own specie and referred to Sept 11 and later events to prove his point. "This specie has surely developed the capacity to do just that and an extra bit with the cold and calculated savagery assaults on each other," he said. However, he asserted, that there was a need to find out the reasons for this tragedy. Mr Chomsky said the scale of human catastrophe that had already taken place since Sept 11 and that might follow could only be guessed. But he warned that the projections on which policy decisions were being taken, and commentaries based, were enough to tell us that the world was being directed by its leaders towards a direction that no decent person would like to see. "The crimes of Sept 11 are in the historic turning point, but not because of their scale, rather because of the choice of targets," he said, adding that it was for the first time since British bombed Washington in 1814 that the American territory had been attacked and threatened. During the past two centuries, he recalled, the US had remained an invader and annihilated the indigenous population, conquered the Mexico and intervened validly in the surrounding regions, overpowered Philippines and killed hundreds and thousands of Filipinos in the chase. He said during this period America extended its force throughout the world. "The number of victims of US savagery are huge right upto the present moment," the visiting US scholar said. "For the first time, almost in two centuries, the guns have been pointed in the opposite direction. And it is a historic change." He said the same was true about the Europeans' past, though Europe had also suffered a murderous destruction during the internal civil wars. "However, the Europeans conquered most of the world, leaving a colossal trail of destruction," he said. "The list of crimes is long and horrendous - it is a change, a dramatic change. And it is not surprising that Europe must be shocked by these murderous terrorist atrocities of Sept 11." He said while the Sept 11 incidents would not change the world affairs, these had raised several questions that must be addressed very carefully, if the attacks were to be analysed. The question to be asked is whether the specie of mankind was on the verge of destruction and whether their intelligence was being tested by the biological error? "Some of these questions have to do with the immediate events, some with the most fundamental issues and some are combined," he said, adding that the most important questions were "what is terrorism and what is the war that has been declared against it. And what are the dangers to the continuation of the human survival in future." Another important question, he said, was as to what extent it was easy to proceed against the people who were involved in terror and the war against terrorism. He said there were natural and irrational approaches within the existing institutions and ideological structures. The extent they do danger to all was the main question that must be addressed. Discussing what the world had learnt from these events about the principles and values that guided the most powerful forces of the world, he said even before Sept 11, most of the Afghan population was relying on the international food aid for their survival. That number, he said, had now risen from 0.5 million to seven million as a direct result of the terrorist attacks in the US. He said the international media had also reported huge casualties in Afghanistan and the UN itself had appealed to the US to stop bombing so that it could re-start its relief operations inside the war-ravaged country. But, ironically, these appeals were rebuffed by the US without any comment. Mr Chomsky recalled that only 10 days before the bombing, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization had warned the world that seven million people would face starvation in Afghanistan if the military action was initiated. He said this warning was repeated after the bombing began and the UN agencies demanded that the US must avoid this action as these would aggravate the human catastrophes. Citing media reports, he said, the bombing had already destroyed the farm plantation of about 80 per cent of the country, which meant more famine and hunger in Afghanistan next year. He said several months had already been wasted with no food delivered to the Afghans. "These are the estimates on which civilizations are relying as the coalition forces are making plans to further destroy the hunger- stricken country," he said. "The consequences of their crimes will never be known and they are quite confident about that. And that is the enormous outcome of the crime of the powerful and they don't like to see in the mirror any more than the others do. And they are free in this obligation as a world power they have to carry." He also referred to the new American threats of extending its war against terrorism to other countries like Somalia and Sudan. "They (Western media) did not mention that in the case of Somalia the US was there not long ago and left hopeless people there by 10,000 US troops," he said. "In the case of Sudan, the US bombed it in 1998, destroying pharmaceutical supplies that a factory produced. The death toll during this attack was not known and nobody cared to investigate the crime. But there had been some investigations by the German embassy in Sudan and their estimates were that several thousand people were killed in that attack on the factory. But we do not know the official figures of casualties. "So it is quite natural to pick these countries, target them in the war against terror that arouses no comments. And without looking at the world Press you must be confident that they will never discuss these issues in public." Discussing the term "terrorism", he said it appeared that the term to "wipe out evil from the earth" used by President Bush's speech writers was borrowed from ancient epics about the incarnation of the gods. "The goal of the civilized world has been clearly announced at many places that we must eradicate the evil, suppress the terrorism," he said. "To place the enterprise in its right perspective it is useful to recognize that the power to eliminate the plague (of terrorism) is not new. It started from President (Ronald) Reagan and Secretary of State, George Shutlz. Their organizations came into office claiming that their struggle against world terrorism would be the core of their foreign policy and they reacted against this plague by reorganizing campaign against the international terrorism on an unprecedented scale." Mr Chomsky said that the United States had rejected all moves made by the former Soviet Union to reduce nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Instead, he added, the United States had started manufacturing these weapons at a large-scale. The US scholar said that the United States itself recognized nuclear weapons as the most important means for mass destruction. Mr Chomsky said that the US claimed that its missile defence system was not offesnive. However, China, Russia and other world powers have strong reservations about it fearing that the US programme might start another race for achieving nuclear warfare stretching to the boundaries of space by using satellite navigational system. He also recalled that the United States had opposed a UN resolution, that had defined terrorism, because it excluded freedom-fighters from terrorism. He said since Nelson Mandela was then a "terrorist" in the eyes of the United States, it opposed that resolution and vetoed it. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011127 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Benazir demands assurance of safety on return ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent NEW DELHI, Nov 26: Saying that her exile was a reflection of the state of human rights in Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto sought assurances of safety from President Pervez Musharraf's regime whenever she does decide to return to her country. Ms Bhutto told a news conference on the second day of a private visit to India that her government was subverted by jihadi elements in the Pakistan army and by Osama bin Laden himself. "I represent one side of the debate which represents freedom, free markets and global co-operation," she said. "The other part of the debate is that which believes that violence can bring about a more meaningful change, that there should be a de-linking from the rest of the global community. My election was, therefore, opposed by extremist forces sometimes referred to as jihadi generals, sometimes referred to as pro-Taliban." She said in 1989 Osama bin Laden was recalled from Saudi Arabia to fund a no-confidence move to topple her government. "That no- confidence move failed in 1989." In 1993, since convicted terror mastermind Ramzi Yussuf "at the behest of the domestic Pakistani supporters made two assassination attempts on me which both failed. In one of those assassination attempts the plan was to blame my brother and his supporters for the attack on me." Ms Bhutto denied charges that her government was largely responsible for the creation of the Taliban militants in Afghanistan, but said she had worked with them for some time with the United States and European countries. "As far as the creation of the Taliban is concerned, there is a widespread perception that they were created by my party, and that perception is incorrect," Ms Bhutto said. "In fact we did not have anything to do with the creation of the Taliban. They were an indigenous Afghan movement that rose to take control of Kandahar. However, initially, the US, Europe and my government did work with the Taliban. Asked about her prospects of returning to Pakistan to contest elections promised by Gen Musharraf, Ms Bhutto said her party and the military regime were engaged in a discussion on the issue. "There is still a wide gulf between the two sides. And this wide gulf depends on a range of issues, including our demand that political prisoners be released, politically motivated cases be withdrawn, that elections be fair, free and impartial, in that regard certain substantive steps be taken and, of course, safety assurances for my return." However, she said: "Even if there is no agreement between the military regime and my party, I still intend contesting the next election. And then I would return in the context of no understanding with the military regime. But that would mean that the military regime does not want to have fair elections. If there are elections, I would like to contest the elections. By barring my contest they cast on the whole process. We have not abandoned the path of dialogue. Nor has Gen Musharraf abandoned the path of dialogue. And since his regime has kept open the doors of dialogue there is still a possibility that we can have an agreement." Ms Bhutto said a stable and democratic Pakistan was absolutely essential today. "I hope in the better interest of my country that Gen Musharraf's regime has the agreement to facilitate the return of democracy. There is too much tension in the region and a stable Pakistan is very important for Pakistan and for the region." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011127 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Benazir suggests China model for Kashmir talks ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Jawed Naqvi NEW DELHI, Nov 26: Benazir Bhutto acknowledged that there was a wide gulf between India and Pakistan over their perceptions on the Kashmir dispute, but said the problem could be resolved peacefully and patiently, by adopting the ongoing border talks between India and China as a model to follow. "If there is no progress in conflict resolution, there should be an effort towards conflict management," Ms Bhutto told a news conference on the second day of a private visit to India. "India has a dispute with China over the border. But India and China have not gone to war. India and China are holding meetings and this could be a model of how states with disputes, where they disagree, could handle their situation." Ms Bhutto said the United Stated and China have a dispute over Taiwan. "But the two countries are involved heavily in trade. I think it is important for us to understand, if there are different perceptions, we can still meet to dispel misperceptions." She underscored the difference between her government's policy towards Kashmir and that of her numerous successors. "During my tenure we ensured that no outside group was allowed to hijack the Kashmiri movement. And organizations like the Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, which had their links to the al-Qaeda group, were kept out. The level of violence was lower. There were no hot pursuits into Pakistan." In separate remarks to journalists Ms Bhutto advocated open and safe borders between the two countries. "Irrespective of our differing views on Jammu and Kashmir, let us build safe and open borders. Let India and Pakistan sit down and see how they can replicate to some extent what happened in West Asia between Jordan and Israel, where they have safe and open borders despite the fact that there are militants who want to take advantage," she said, adding that it was a "do-able mission" depending on the will of the governments in the two countries. Strongly favouring a broad-based relationship between the two countries, the leader of the Pakistan People's Party said: "If we can somehow have negotiations without prejudice to our views on Jammu and Kashmir, may be when we work together, the wounds (would) heal." On the skepticism in India about Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf's stand on terrorism, she said: "Overtly he says he is against terrorism but he needs to demonstrate that in a palpable way. The continued intensity of violence in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir has its own impact on Indo-Pak relations." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011126 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistanis sense US has failed to keep deal ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent NEW YORK, Nov 25: Only 10 weeks after Gen Musharraf pledged his "full support" to the United States, enraging religious groups and Islamic hard-liners in the army, sense that the United States has failed to keep its side of the deal, said the New York Times on Sunday. The sense of frustration of Pakistani officials was reflected, the Times said, "when Pakistan appealed for American intervention to work out an arrangement in Kunduz, Secretary of Defence Donald H. Rumsfeld responded, in effect, that the Pakistanis would face the choice of all defeated soldiers in war, surrender or death." The Times quoted a Pakistani official as saying: "I am sorry to put it in this way, but Rumsfeld's been extremely callous." The Kunduz drama has captured the frustration and anger of many Pakistani officials who entrusted their interests in Afghanistan to the United States after Sept. 11, when the Bush administration demanded that Pakistan join in the war against terrorism, the paper said. "The corollary, as stated and repeated by President Pervez Musharraf, was that Washington would see to it that all of Pakistan's essential interests in Afghanistan were protected. From the American perspective, the war has gone a long way towards achieving its objectives, with the Taliban driven from power in all but one city, Kandahar, and Al-Qaeda terrorists on the run. But from the Pakistani perspective, things have gone badly wrong, and the Americans have not delivered," the Times said. The sense that the United States has failed to keep its side of the deal is rife, from the bazaars of cities to the offices where senior aides to Gen Musharraf ponder how to extricate Pakistan from the problems the war has caused, the paper said. However, the paper noted that "Pakistan's gains have been substantial, specially financially, with the removal of American economic sanctions and the giving of fresh aid and help in debt payments. But strategically, the war has been a disaster in the minds of most Pakistanis. Two weeks ago, when President Bush and Gen Musharraf met in New York, Mr Bush pressed the Northern Alliance not to capture Kabul. But when the general returned home days later, he arrived just in time to see alliance troops pouring into the Afghan capital." The Times said that with the Bonn meeting coming up, Gen Musharraf has said little about the situation, other than repeating his "expectation" that the talks will begin the process of establishing a provisional government with strong Pakhtoon representation that would be friendly to Pakistan. "But privately, Pakistani officials say, the general is deeply skeptical that alliance leaders will keep their promise, specially to cede military control of Kabul to a force comprising Pakhtoon units. Gen Musharraf has bitten his tongue, hoping that the Bonn meeting will prove his worst fears wrong, Pakistani officials suggest. He does so knowing that his own standing in Pakistan would be seriously undermined if he were to say that the United States has broken a promise to him." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011126 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US has no proof to get Osama convicted: Chomsky ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Intikhab Hanif LAHORE, Nov 25: US scholar Dr Noam Chomsky on Sunday said America wanted Osama bin Laden dead and not alive because it did not have any proof to get him convicted in a court of law. "If captured alive it will be difficult for America to try Osama in a court of law and that is why it considers it better to kill him," he said while replying to questions at a forum of a local newspaper. The Sept 11 plane attacks on America did not mark a beginning of its end. The happening merely changed the history, as it involved the first-ever massive attack this time on a major developed country in hundreds of years. But it will not change the social and economic and political system of America and the world, he said. Prof Chomsky said it was true that all past empires fell. But the peak of the US power was in 1945 when it possessed half of the world's wealth and a huge military force. But by 1970 this wealth was reduced to 25 per cent. Now, he said, there were three major power centres, the US based west, the German based West and the Japan and China based South East Asia. The events on Sept 11 will not change this set up. Prof Chomsky said the Kashmiri people had the right to self- determination but the dispute could be resolved only by Pakistan and India through the sympathetic recognition of each others stand point. "America is not favouring any of the parties to the conflict. It wants to go its own way and is showing one side of the picture to Pakistan and another to India. It merely wants both the countries to be nice subordinates, desiring that Islamabad must stop support to violence in the held Kashmir," the US scholar said. He termed the attack on Afghanistan merely an act of establishing the power and credibility of America and its allies. Even bombing Taliban soldiers was a crime, an illegal act and sheer exercise of power, he said. Prof Chomsky said the CIA, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries created mercenaries in Afghanistan. "Yes, Afghans had the right to defend the USSR invasion but America and Muslim countries had no right to raise mercenaries in Afghanistan," he said He said the USSR invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, which was a crime, but the US started supporting the Mujahideen there six months earlier to fight against their government and to "invite and trap" the USSR in Afghanistan. "The plan was successful," he said. Prof Chomsky said China and Iran too were playing their game in the region before 1978. Pakistan also got involved and they all destroyed Afghanistan, he claimed. He said both the USSR and the US used the cold war as a pretext to establish their hegemony in the world and to block each other. But the same policy continued even after the demise of the USSR as the US invaded Panama using this time not to defend the country against "Moscow but against Spanish drug lords". The cold war was an illusion and the Third World was its victim. The US scholar said the Central Asia had oil reserves but these were much less than those in the Gulf region. The Central Asian states were not the major source of attraction for their oil reserves as the cold energy (technology) will soon replace the hot energy. He said sarcastically referred to the pro-establishment intellectuals as wise men and said they were the associates of policy makers. "If you don't support the power, you are not considered intellectual," he said. Prof Chomsky said people in the US were not given full information but still there were occasions when public opinion led to a change in the policy. To prove his point he quoted the examples of the Kennedy and Reagan administrations which made military experiments in Vietnam and Central America and had to worry about the public reactions against it. He said the long war in Vietnam had created strong public opinion against the US administration but it stopped the aggression when the business community, which matters and not the people, said that the conflict had become costly. "A delegation of the business community went to Washington and asked the president to resign, stop bombing and start withdrawing army as the war is costing too much," he said. Prof Chomsky said the Reagan administration tried to duplicate the action of the Kennedy administration in Vietnam and the media supported both the regimes. "But, the US action against weaker nations must end rapidly because the public support erodes quickly," he said. America raised the slogan of the star war to eliminate nuclear weapons whereas it was meant to accelerate the arms race and was opposed by the people. "They do respond to public voice, but as they defend the power, it happens occasionally," he said. Prof Chomsky said those who press for democracy were not serving the West because this was the last thing the West would want. "The West want subordinate system no matter it is being run by military dictator," he said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011126 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Six Pakistan tribesmen killed in US bombing ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent QUETTA, Nov 25: At least six tribesmen of the former Asmat militia were killed and some others were injured in US bombing in Adha area some 25km northeast off Chaman. Sources said that these members of the Asmat militia were present in the area to attack Taliban position along-with armed men of former Kandahar Governor Gul Agha and Hamid Khan Karzai during which they came under the bombing of US warplanes in the early hours. "US warplanes dropped a bomb in the area resulting in killing of six tribesmen of Asmat militia," border security official confirmed to Dawn adding that all the six victims were Pakistanis. The bodies of these six persons were brought to Chaman. Four of them were buried in Chaman and two bodies were sent to Jungle Pir Alizai. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011126 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US, UK plan for war in Somalia, Sudan & Yemen: report ------------------------------------------------------------------- LONDON, Nov 25: The United States and Britain are planning to extend the war on terrorism to Somalia, Sudan and Yemen as soon as the campaign in Afghanistan is over, The Sunday Times reported. A defence ministry spokeswoman played down the report, but did not rule out future action in the three new countries. The spokeswoman told AFP: "You can't discount any ideas but we are focusing on Afghanistan and we have no plans to do anything else. We still have work to do in Afghanistan. "But it would be stupid to narrow what we are going to do in terms of the military aspect." The US and Britain are considering targets linked to Osama bin Laden in the three countries, The Sunday Times said, citing senior official sources in London and Washington. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush had agreed that the momentum created by the anti-terror coalition's recent successes in Afghanistan must be maintained with swift action elsewhere, the paper added. The British defence ministry spokeswoman added: "We analyse the military situation day by day. "I am not ruling anything out. Military planners are looking at a range of aspects." Intelligence officers from both Britain and the US have been on the ground in all three countries to gather information about terrorists and ascertain their links with Al-Qaeda.The British and their CIA counterparts have been assembling evidence to be used as the basis for attacks on Osama's associates and terrorist training camps, The Sunday Times reported. Military preparations have also begun, though plans to strike specific targets have not yet been finalised, the paper added. The first targets, according to the broadsheet's British sources, could be hit as early as late January if the war in Afghanistan is nearing its final stages by then. Al-Qaeda supporters have established bases in the northern mountains of Yemen, where 17 US sailors died in a suicide bomb attack on the USS Cole off Aden last year, The Sunday Times said. It added that US officials hoped to secure the cooperation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who visits Washington this week. In Sudan, where Osama lived until 1996, the Bush administration is expected to pursue followers of Hassan al-Turabi, a former parliamentary speaker who gave Osama sanctuary for five years, according to The Sunday Times. Possible targets in Somalia include the Al-Itihaad group, which has been linked to Osama through Muhammad Atef, his deputy, who was killed by an US missile in Afghanistan, the paper added. Officials believe that extending the campaign to Sudan, Somalia and Yemen will keep Al-Qaeda on the run. A British Ministry of Defence source told the paper: "We are focused on Afghanistan. "However, this is part of a wider war on terror, wherever that may be, so it should not be a surprise to learn that military planning may be under way in other parts of the world. "While we cannot confirm targets, the three countries mentioned have all been linked to terrorist activity."-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011125 ------------------------------------------------------------------- CE, Indian premier may not meet ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Jawed Naqvi NEW DELHI, Nov 24: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was quoted as raising hopes of a meeting with President Pervez Musharraf during a regional summit of South Asian countries in Kathmandu in January but diplomats cautioned that his deliberately measured words could yet mean just the opposite. "If Saarc summit is held (in Kathmandu) and I go there and he (President Musharraf) comes there, then we could meet", Mr Vajpayee told reporters in an informal chat at a luncheon in New Delhi. Diplomats said there were far too many ifs in the tantalising sentence which, coupled with the domestic expediency for Mr Vajpayee to remain or be seen to remain at loggerheads with Pakistan for the time being, means that it is rather uncertain if he would really be meeting President Musharraf soon. Well-placed diplomats spoke instead of the possibility of India sending President K.R. Narayanan to the January 4-6 summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) in the Nepali capital. Saarc leaders have often used the ploy to avoid each other whenever it has suited them. "There has been considerable thinking in the diplomatic circles on this issue and there is a growing belief that India may not send its prime minister to Kathmandu, and instead ask the president to represent the country," one diplomat told Dawn. Indian officials, speaking privately, said Mr Vajpayee was not too keen to meet Gen Musharraf in Kathmandu but he would wait until closer to the occasion to see if he could really avoid the visit. "His problem is that he has a bilateral commitment to visit Nepal as prime minister, something he does not wish to delay for too long," one official said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011125 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Efforts on for Pakistanis' evacuation from Kunduz ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter RAWALPINDI, Nov 24: The Director-General, ISPR, Maj- Gen Rashid Qureshi, said that the government is engaged in negotiations with the coalition forces and the International Committee of the Red Cross for safe evacuation of Pakistanis from Kunduz province, Afghanistan. General Qureshi said these people would be tried according to laws of the country, if handed over to Pakistan or the international laws, if given in the custody of the United Nations. The government, he said, had been doing everything possible to avert a Mazari-Sharif-like massacre and added that in that city, hundreds of Taliban's supporters, including Pakistanis, had been killed. "These people had violated the law by going to Afghanistan without the permission of the government and without valid documents. But we have been doing everything to evacuate them on humanitarian grounds," he added. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011125 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No Pakistan aircraft in Afghanistan, says official ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 24: No Pakistani aircraft has flown into Afghanistan since the world coalition began its military action against the Taliban regime, said a government spokesman. He described as baseless a report appearing in a section of the foreign Press, alleging airlifting of the Pakistanis stranded in Kunduz. "This story", he said, "was in fact first published by some Indian newspapers and was promptly contradicted by the government of Pakistan." The spokesman regretted that despite Pakistan's repeated denials regarding the presence of any Pakistani troops or ISI officials in Afghanistan, a section of the foreign Press continued to be misled by fabricated stories originating from the Indian media. A section of the foreign Press was unfortunately re-circulating the reports without realizing the biased reporting of the Indian media against Pakistan, he added.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011126 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Taliban office sealed, 20 held ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Nov 25: The law-enforcement agencies raided a Taliban representative office and arrested some 20 people and sealed the office. Well-placed sources said the law-enforcement agencies of the federal government surrounded the building. They took all of the people inside the building into custody, besides seizing relief goods, documents and aid money. Those taken into custody included Taliban representative Maulvi Abdur Rehman Haleem, his seven-year-old son Roohullah, Maulvi Fazal Mohammad, Maulvi Naseer, Maulvi Khalil, three local doctors and others. All of the arrested persons were taken away to some unknown destination. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011201 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Muttahida may set up radio, TV stations ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Mohammad Asghar ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) plans to set up a "communication network", comprising a radio station and a satellite television channel, to reactivate the organisation and workers throughout the world, especially in Pakistan, an official source told Dawn. The source said a high powered transmitter was planned to be set up in Rajasthan through which the TV and radio network would be beamed into Pakistan and other countries. The source said the federal government had directed the communication ministry to trace out the details of the plan and take steps to counter it. For this purpose, a former senior official of Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation, who had been residing in South Africa, had come to Pakistan recently, the source said. During his stay, he had conducted a detailed survey in Sindh to explore the possibility of setting up of the communication network. The source further said that the TV channel would be used by the MQM for generating funds and to gear-up the people. The purpose of the network is to get public support, which the party officials believe had declined in recent months. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011125 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Saif's arrest in murder case sought: Plea filed in PHC ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report PESHAWAR, Nov 24: A freelance journalist approached the Peshawar High Court, praying that former senator Saifur Rehman be taken into custody and instructions be issued to the crimes branch to interrogate him for the murder of his brother. The request came in an application submitted by Shahid Orakzai with a writ petition in the PHC against Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Saifur Rehman and the former MNA, Jawed Ibraheem Piracha. The petition has been pending before the court which had twice issued notices to the federal government. The government has not filed any comments so far. Apprehending the release of Saifur Rehman, the petitioner had earlier filed an application, requesting the court to issue directives to the government not to release Mr Rehman and to place him on the exit control list. While the high court is yet to decide the application, Mr Rehman has been released a couple of days back on the order of the Supreme Court with the result that Mr Orakzai has filed a fresh application. The petitioner stated that the alleged killer of his brother Major Khalid Saeed Orakzai had now been granted full freedom. He stated that the military government was unwilling to register a single corruption case against Mr Rehman despite documentary evidence of a horse-trading deal which the petitioner had provided to the NAB. The petitioner recalled that an SC bench had ruled that the murder be investigated in the context of horse-trading allegations and that the murder had nothing to do with the religious beliefs of the victim. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011125 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 killed in Kashmir explosions, shootouts ------------------------------------------------------------------- SRINAGAR, Nov 24: At least 10 people were killed and 32 wounded in explosions and shootouts in Kashmir, police said. A grenade attack in a crowded market in Srinagar killed one civilian and wounded 23 others, police said. They said the Mujahideen hurled the grenade at a paramilitary patrol vehicle at Srinagar's Budshah Chowk barely 200 metres from the assembly building. "The grenade missed the target and exploded on the road injuring nearly two dozen civilians, many of them seriously," a police official said. The injured were admitted to hospitals, he said. "One of the injured later died in hospital."- Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011127 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 killed in Jherruk road accident ------------------------------------------------------------------- By M. Iqbal Khwaja THATTA, Nov 26: Nineteen people were killed and 36 others injured when two coasters collided head on near Jherruk, some 62km off here on National Highway. A Hyderabad-bound coaster while overtaking a truck, collided with the other coaster coming from the opposite direction near the Hameed Farm. Thirteen passengers from both vehicles died on the spot and six others died on their way to a hospital in Hyderabad. The bodies and injured were brought to Liaquat Medical University Hospital Hyderabad by Edhi volunteers.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY 20011126 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Japan to provide Rs5.3m for DPs ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report PESHAWAR, Nov 25: The Japan government will provide Rs5.3 million assistance for child health-care and provision of clean drinking water to Afghan refugees, living in the NWFP and Balochistan. The agreement was signed by the Japan Ambassador, Sadaaki Numata, and President of Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP. According to the agreement, the Japan government would extend support to Afghan refugees through grassroots grant assistance, worth Rs5.3 million. The FPAP will utilize this assistance on safe motherhood, reproductive health/family planning information and services and safe drinking water supply in 12 refugee camps in NWFP and Balochistan. The project will focus on children, adolescent girls and women. The assistance to this project is being extended under the grant worth 200 million yen ($1.87 million) allocated for grassroots level projects, under the Emergency Economic Assistance package for Pakistan, announced by the government of Japan on September 21. Japan initiated the Grassroots Assistance scheme for Pakistan in 1989. Speaking on the occasion, Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said that her government would make all efforts to resolve the Afghan conflict. She said that Japan would continue assistance for the destitute Afghan refugees. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011201 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Chances for poverty funds bright: IMF ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ihtasham ul Haque ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: Pakistan's chances of getting substantial funding under Poverty Reduction Growth Facility programme from the IMF are exceedingly good when its executive board meets in Washington on Dec 6, says a senior IMF official. "Pakistan is poised to get a three-year highly concessional PRGF package on the basis of a strong economic reform programme it has prepared," Mr Henri Ghesquiere, Senior Resident Representative of the IMF in Islamabad told Dawn on Friday. He said that Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy prepared by the government of Pakistan was an impressive document on the basis of which the IMF executive board will decide new funding under the PRGF programme. This IPRS, he pointed out, will explain to the Executive Board the strategy Pakistan wanted to put in place during the next three-year period. However, he said, he could not indicate the exact size of the programme at this stage. The financing gap of $3.2 billion for the current year, he said, will be jointly bridged by the bilateral and multilateral creditors. "The good news is that there are sufficient indications of Pakistan getting its current financial year's financing gap filled adequately," he said. He said the new package to be offered by the IMF only carried 0.5 per cent interest rate which was very concessional. This IPRS has been handed over to the IMF and is expected to be shortly made public by the government of Pakistan, Mr Ghesquiere said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011125 ------------------------------------------------------------------- EU agrees to cut tariffs, raise textile quotas ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Nov 24: The European Union and Pakistan government signed an agreement to reinforce political cooperation. The two sides also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for preferential trade package, envisaging a reduction in tariffs and increase in Pakistan's textile quotas. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011130 ------------------------------------------------------------------- KESC sell off plan finalized ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: The federal government finalized a plan for restructuring of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) with a target to complete its privatization by Dec 31, 2002. The plan that envisaged issuance of bonds and involvement of Asian Development Bank (ADB) as equity shareholder to the extent of about seven per cent was finalized at a meeting presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz. A high-level team of ADB headed by Mr Kawasaki, the head of bank's south Asia wing, and Khalid Rehman, head of energy department, Minister for Privatization Commission Altaf Saleem, WAPDA and KESC chairman Lt-Gen Zulfiqar Ali Khan, secretary-general of finance Moeen Afzal, managing-director of KESC and secretaries of finance and water and power, and financial advisers of KESC Price Waterhouse Coopers attended the meeting. Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz told Dawn that the financial advisers on KESC privatization submitted their final report on restructuring and privatization of organization and the meeting fully agreed to it. He said that the restructuring plan would now be submitted to the federal cabinet for approval during forthcoming meeting in December and then the regulatory framework and restructuring process would start before the end of December. The report, he said, contained time-bound targets for regulatory framework, restructuring process, invitation of bidders and negotiations with prospective buyers including issuance of bonds. He did not give exact size of bonds but said there was a possibility that the ADB became equity partner in the utility. "It's an aggressive schedule but we think it can be implemented," said the minister. He said that KESC had been accruing around Rs1.2 billion per month losses but now the losses were about Rs1 billion per month due to fall in oil prices. Official sources said that accumulated KESC losses were now touching Rs80 billion as annual losses amounted to around Rs15 to 18 billion. Of this amount, a portion would be covered through issuance of bonds and the remaining liabilities would have to be taken over by the federal government to make the utility a loss-free privatizable entity. The sources said that KESC's Rs10 billion outstanding dues payable to WAPDA would also be covered under the restructuring plan. A separate plan was also discussed that involved additional provision of gas supply to KESC in next couple of months. The additional gas supply would provide KESC a saving of Rs500 million per month, the sources added. The privatization of KESC is already beyond schedule by many years as it was originally planned to be transferred to the new buyer by the end of December 1998 and then the target was revised many times. However, the privatization process could not be started due to heavy liabilities, over 40 per cent line losses and unfavourable market conditions. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011126 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Fake message creates furore in capital market ------------------------------------------------------------------- Muhammad Aslam Shares on the Karachi stock market remained under pressure as the mid-week attempted rallies failed to get through in the absence of strong follow-up support both from the genuine investors and the institutional traders. The suspension of trading in the shares of Hub-Power Company followed by the reports of a forged fax message claiming that "its lenders have approved the recently declared 22 per cent final dividend", worked against the underlying sentiment followed by the panic-selling in most of the pivotals. Although the dividend approval came at the weekened but the damage has already been done. The KSE 100-share index showed a fresh decline at 1,358.82 as compared to 1,381.71 a week earlier, eroding about Rs8 billion from the market capitalization. The KSE 100-share index fell to 1,348.50 points from the previous highs of 1,381.00 as the Hubco episode jolted the entire market at least for the near-term. Earlier, the announcement of an interim cash dividend at the rate of 20 per cent by the ICI Pakistan toward the fag-end of the session generated a good bit of short-covering in it and some other blue chips, putting the market back on the rails. The ICI Pakistan board gave a pleasant surprise to even most well-informed brokers after declaring an interim dividend at the rate of 20 per cent. The announcement was welcome as it came in the backdrop of a previous blank year and 60 per cent right shares in 1999. "The separation of the Pakistan PTA from the principal company shows that the ICI Pakistan is heading to attain the required financial viability and will soon resume its role of a market leader", analysts at the W.E. Financial predict. Continued losses in the PTA business after the withdrawal of a foreign joint venture partner a couple of years back has strained the ICI Pakistan's financial position but the interim dividend tells it is all set to regain its past glory, they add. The news was well received in the market as was reflected by a smart rally of 55 paisa to close at Rs45.30. During the last about two weeks it has risen to its recent peak level of Rs50 apparently on an anticipatory buying ahead of the interim, they added. The record rise in forex reserves to well over $4bn and 45 per cent increase in the remittances was another aiding factor, indicating the strength of the rupee and the confidence of those sending money through formal channels. "The strength of the local currency could well be an envy of the foreign investors as it ensures that the value of their dollar investment may not erode", some leading stock analysts believe hoping a medium-term rally on the blue chip counters. Stock analysts at the Finex Securities also hold the same view about the direction of the market as a record rise in forex reserves could prove an attractive bait for foreign investors in the coming weeks. "With Afghan war losing relevance investors are having a second thought on the post-war economic realities and their likely impact on the stock trading", says floor broker adding "the post-war scenario will be clear soon". Cement shares came in for renewed support under the lead of D.G.Khan Cement on reports that its management along with some others have converted their production process from furnace oil to coal, billed most cheaper. It could add significantly to their profits after cutting overhead costs. The bulk of the support originated from the institutional traders who have sold earlier, followed by some jobbers but floating stock in some major shares still remains unabsorbed. However, a part of it has been lifted at the dips. Most of the price changes were fractional, reflecting the absence of big ones. However, among the major gainers, which rose by Re1 to Rs2.50 Balochistan Wheels, the PSO, Shell Pakistan, and Clover Pakistan were leading. Losers were led by the Colgate Pakistan, which came in for renewed selling followed by some adverse comments of sales, off another Rs4.40 followed by the Burewala Textiles. Trading volume showed a sharp contraction partly because of suspension of trading in the Hubco shares and partly due to the advent of the holy month of Ramazan and curtailed business hours falling to 340 million shares from well over half a billion shares a week earlier. Among the actives, Hub-Power, the PTCL, the ICI Pakistan, Sui Northern, the PSO, the MCB, Adamjee Insurance, Engro Chemical and Nishat Mills were leading followed by the Fauji Fertiliser, Japan Power,the D.G.Khan Cement, Lucky Cement, WorldCall Payphones, the FFC-Jordan Fertiliser and several others.Back to the top
EDITORIALS & FEATURES 20011125 ------------------------------------------------------------------- A free press ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ardeshir Cowasjee One of the good deeds done for us and this country by the military government of President General Pervez Musharraf is that it has allowed the press complete freedom, it has tolerated with equanimity whatever it may publish on white, yellow, red or black newsprint. It is wise enough to give the readers the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are sufficiently sane and sensible to be able to judge for themselves the worth and weight of the newspapers they read. The reading public of Pakistan, that mini-minority, have read last week how the chief of Nawaz Sharif's accountability bureau, Ehtesab Saifur Rahman, and his brother, have both been granted bail by an accountability court after a 'deal' was done. We now know the extent to which they robbed, how many millions they looted from the exchequer, and how many millions will be recovered from them over how many years. We have also read over the past two years of many other 'deals' having been done between the National Accountability Bureau and the many military and civil and political figures, still alive and happy, who over the many years have robbed and looted this country with impunity. Needless to say, all the robbers are anxiously awaiting the 'restoration of democracy', i.e. the restoration of the freedom to loot and plunder the national exchequer, together with the making of new democratic 'deals' undoing the NAB 'deals' which will leave them free to return nothing. The losers in this case will of course be, as always, the people of Pakistan - its ever increasing population of the poor and deprived who reproduce at the rate of eight births per minute (a rate which grows by the year). Last Sunday's column dealt with the Nazims and their new rule, and the owners of a textile mill who are being harassed and are suffering due to the prevailing Blasphemy Laws of this country and how the yellow press had played its role in furthering the harassment. They continue to do so. For example, reproduced (loosely translated from the Urdu) are some of the false, scurrilous, and inflammatory allegations made: (Due to the quaint editorial policies of the Pakistani press it is not done to name another newspaper, be it a competitor or not, so I will have to refer to the relevant newspapers as 'A', 'B', and so forth.) Paper 'A' (Oct 26): "A joint team of city government, Tehrik-i- Insaf, and social worker leader raided Yunus Textile Mills (YTM) at Daoud Chowrangi on directions of Nazim-i-Ala Naimatullah. Printed cloth has been recovered. The Nazim-i-Ala issued orders for cancelling the mill licence and sealing the mill...... FIR will be registered for blasphemy says Qadir Khan advocate. International Bar President Qadir Khan Mandokhel said while talking to a reporter of the paper 'A' that very soon he will get the FIR registered for blasphemy and get strict punishment for the accused from Shariat Court......" . Paper 'A' (Oct 29): "Protests by religious and jihadi parties and blocking of Mehran highways by hundreds of people. Fatwa for death penalty be given for blasphemy. Sipah-i-Sahaba announced countrywide strike if arrests were not made. Tehrik-i al Furqan said that police offices would be burnt if the accused persons were not arrested within 48 hours. Tehrik-i-Jafaria has demanded that the people behind such act should be identified and appreciated the efforts of Paper 'A'. Umar bin Abdul Aziz Trust has demanded the cancellation of the licence of the mill...... Resentment against printing of holy names. Protest will continue until punishment, said representatives of the Pakistan Workers' Movement. Following leaders protested against blasphemous acts and demanded arrest of the culprits - Allama Hussain Turabi, Abu Huraira, Hafiz Abdullah." Paper 'A' (Nov 1): "A mob consisting of Pasban Workers Movement, religious leaders and social organizations carried out processions in front of YTM. Some stones were thrown at the factory but due to police intervention the situation was brought under control. They demanded the closing of the factory and the National Highway was blocked." Needless to say, the Nazim-i-Ala gave no sealing orders, there was no stoning, there was no blocking of any highway. Paper 'B' (Oct 24): 'Reproduction of the names of Allah and Mohammad on cloth sheets; citizens very annoyed. Great tension in the area due to production of sheets by YTM. The Nazim of Landhi Town contacted SSP Malir. Warning to YTM administration by Nazim Landhi Town Mr M Shahid that if production of said cloth and its sale in the market is not stopped forthwith he, being a Muslim, would ensure forceful resistance and legal action .... The Nazim of Landhi said that there was a lot of unrest in the area around the mill but still so far he and his colleagues were managing to keep the public peaceful. In spite of repeated messages to YTM management and owners there is a mysterious silence from them which is increasing the unrest among the public. "The reproduction of sheets with Allah and Mohammed printed thereon has been viewed as a worldwide conspiracy by an organization especially in view of the present sensitive position of Pakistan. After this incident people have started ringing the newspapers and contacting religious scholars." Paper 'B' (Nov 7): "Qaidabad police refuse to arrest YTM owners. Punishment for blasphemy is death. No action initiated despite registering a case ..... The police is avoiding arrest of mill owners and others responsible ... President of the Mandokhel Welfare Trust for Sindh Hafiz Abdul Bar, and president, Hafiz Abdul Ahad, have asked the higher authorities to apprehend the accused as soon as possible so that they may be taken to task in the light of available evidence and witnesses." Paper 'B' (Nov 11): Workers Movement carried out a protest and demanded the arrest of the owner of the textile mill for printing the sacred names. They reiterated that they would keep on protesting till arrests were made." Of course, there were no protests, no public unrest, and no worldwide conspiracy. The earth has neither moved nor shaken. Similar reports have been printed by four other similar newspapers, dailies and eveningers, who sell through sensation. One weekly Urdu publication (Nov 11) wrote an editorial in the same vein, the final paragraph of which read: "The honourable readers stand witness to the fact that we have tried our utmost to keep up our promise to 'clean our share of space'. Jihad in script is also one among its several other forms. We will stand by our commitment to use our pen as a sword and Insha'Allah, Zarb-i-Islam's stunning strike on the enemies of Islam shall continue as such." Now from this newspaper, Paper 'C' (Sep 25): "Court dismisses plea against cricketers - Justice (blank) (many say the best of the judges this province has to offer) of the Sindh High Court dismissed on Monday a petition with costs which had sought to institute criminal cases against eight cricketers and termed it an attempt at seeking personal publicity by the petitioner. Advocate Qadir Khan Mandokhel had filed the petition on behalf of the Welfare Trust he heads praying that criminal cases be registered against [names of eight cricketers] and all the bookies whose names had come on record of the inquiry report (by Justice Abdul Qayyum). Justice (blank) observed that the petitioner himself being a lawyer must be aware of the law. The judge dismissed the petition which, he observed, was aimed at seeking personal publicity and directed the petitioner to pay the cost in the sum of Rs10,000." In yesterday's press, one report told us that Pervez Musharraf will be staying on as president after the elections to be held towards the end of next year as he wishes to complete the reforms he has initiated and started to put into form and practice. Now, in this post-September 11 scenario, when we and the world have learnt exactly how forceful and strong are our so-called religious extremists who threaten to bring down governments, this is the time for Musharraf to competently deal with these outmoded blasphemy laws so that they may no longer be used as personal weapons of vengeance in the hands of the unscrupulous, the wicked and the greedy. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011128 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Noose tightens on Osama ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Eric S. Margolis Osama bin Laden has survived at least ten assassination attempts mounted by the Soviets, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. But now, after the rapid retreat of Taliban forces and fall of Kabul to the Russian-backed Northern Alliance, the noose is tightening around the world's most wanted man. Taliban's retreat was inevitable. Its 30,000, lightly-armed tribal fighters spread over a Texas-sized nation could not withstand massive US air attacks and Northern Alliance Tajik and Uzbek troops freshly supplied by Russia with tanks, armoured vehicles, and artillery. Taliban's deftly executed surprise retreat wrong-footed the US. Washington didn't want the Alliance to occupy Kabul before it could cobble together a government of its own choosing. Taliban's retreat that opened the way for the Northern Allinace to seize Kabul was a nasty Parthian shaft that hit Pakistan in the eye - revenge for Islamabad abandoning Taliban. The Northern Alliance is a proxy for Russia. Its two military leaders are Gen. Rashid Dostam, a brutal communist warlord who slaughtered 30,000 civilians in the 1990 s, and Gen. Faheem, a senior officer of Khad, the former Afghan communist secret police, an arm of the Soviet KGB. Khad tortured and murdered thousands of Afghans. To Washington's embarrassment, the Alliance also controls Afghanistan's opium and heroin exports. Taliban, a religious movement, had shut down the drug trade. Bush's war against terrorism has plainly taken priority over the war on drugs. Handing northern Afghanistan and Kabul over to the Russians appears the price the US had to pay for Moscow's support in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Having ousted the Russians from Afghanistan in the 1980s, Washington has now invited them back in. So far, clever Vladimir Putin is the big winner in the Afghan mess. Mullah Omar, Taliban's leader, ordered his men to retreat into Pushtun territory in southwest Afghanistan, and into neighbouring Northwest Frontier Province. In this wild region, the birthplace of Taliban, heavily-armed Pushtun tribesmen are a law unto themselves. Taliban says it will now wage guerilla war from the NWFP and from the central Hindukush mountains north of Kandahar. The Taliban believe guerrilla fighting will allow them to finally engage US troops hunting for Osama at more equal odds.The US military plan for Afghanistan is on schedule, though its political agenda certainly is not. The overthrow of the Taliban regime has opened the way for the US special forces to hunt down bin Laden, who is believed to be hiding in cave complexes north of Kandahar that he helped build during the jihad against the Soviets. It is essential for the US to capture bin Laden or at least recover his body. If he somehow escapes, or is buried alive in a cave, the US will be unable to proclaim victory and will have to face charges that it tore apart Afghanistan, killed large numbers of civilians, and created tens of thousands of refugees, for nothing. Last week, pro-Taliban sources reported Osama vowed he will not be taken alive, a position perfectly in keeping with his record as a courageous fighter against the Soviets and a 'mujahid,' ready to become 'shaheed,' for his faith. The $25 million dollar reward being offered by the US for Osama bin Laden will certainly tempt local tribesmen and even some Taliban leaders to hand him over to the Americans. Sudden betrayal and double-dealing are the norm in Afghanistan. Pakistan government would also reap huge additional rewards from the US by handing over bin Laden. Last week, President George Bush authorized closed military tribunals for the first time since World War II. They are clearly designed to avoid bin Laden and his associates, if captured, standing trial in open courts where they could defend themselves and win sympathy in the Third World. These courts are sure to hand down death sentences. There is still a remote chance the elusive Osama could escape. He may slip across the border into the Northwest Frontier and be hidden by friendly Pashtun tribesmen. There is much sympathy for Taliban and Osama in Pakistan. Some Islamist officers of Pakistan's army or intelligence service might aid Osama's escape. But it will be very difficult for the world's most notorious man to change his appearance. Bin laden is over 6 foot 4, gaunt, and, currently, the world's most famous face. There are very few places where Osama could hide. Nations like Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria or Indonesia would be unable to withstand American pressure to hand him over. Osama and Iraq's Saddam Hussein are bitter enemies. Libya is lying low. Iran and the Central Asian states are his bitter enemies. China is hostile. Wherever he might find refuge, he is almost certain to be sold to the US for cash or political favours. The day Osama openly declared a one-man war against the US over Israel, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, this Arab Don Quixote signed his own death warrant.-Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2001. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011130 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pragmatism of the supine ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ayaz Amir Accepting our weakness and bowing to the inevitable is one thing. But can we please stop pretending that by acting the way we have done in this Afghan crisis we have somehow rescued Pakistan's defences? Last week General Musharraf said Pakistan's stance on Afghanistan had been vindicated by events. If this is vindication, what would defeat look like? This week he says, "Pakistan's importance in relation to Afghanistan is a matter of geography, which cannot be changed." If our importance is so self-evident, why are we proclaiming it from the housetops? Why are we protesting so much about how, by becoming bag-carriers of the United States, we have protected our 'core' interests. If this is the way to protect 'core' interests, every beggar would be a king. Thanks to Afghanistan, General Zia ul Haq enjoyed nine years in the sun, General Musharraf a mere two months. This is no reflection on Musharraf's person, only an indication of the different circumstances then and now, the rout of the Taliban having dramatically altered our frontline status. Our name is mud both in Kabul and Kandahar. This is what military wizards past and present have managed to achieve by playing the great game in Afghanistan - a game warranted neither by strength nor pressing necessity but driven entirely by a misguided ambition. Given this record of unrelieved failure anyone in our place would draw a curtain of forgetfulness around Afghanistan, letting the pieces fall where they will and letting a new equilibrium arise in that war-torn land. But old habits die hard. We persist in talking of our importance in relation to Afghanistan. A little humility would teach us a different lesson. We who are taking no small pride in the defeat of the Taliban as a vindication of our stance, choose to forget that whereas the Taliban have taken nearly two months of the most ferocious punishment imaginable, without surrendering or deserting, we succumbed before a single telephone call from Colin Powell. He himself has said as much in an interview with the New York Times, saying that he delivered a virtual ultimatum to General Musharraf: "Mr President, you have a choice to make." We made the choice there and then and ratified it a mere 24 hours later. As we mock the rout of the Taliban we forget that whereas the Taliban are still holding out, defiant to the last, our vaunted army laid down its arms in East Pakistan in 1971 without so much as a decent fight in an encounter that lasted no more than a fortnight. Here and there junior officers and soldiers upheld the honour of their arms. But the army command as a whole covered itself in shame. Unmindful of this record, any number of clucking pundits are joining in the chorus of denouncing the Taliban and glorifying the superiority of American firepower. If this were to become the prevailing wisdom, resistance of any sort would disappear from the face of the planet. The US has hinted darkly at taking the so-called war on terror to Sudan and Somalia. President Bush has openly threatened Iraq. Lebanon is also on the list of states incurring American displeasure because of the government's refusal there to freeze the assets of Hezbollah. What should all these countries do? And what should the great commonwealth of Islamic countries be doing? This has not been the Ummah's proudest hour but if the Muslim kings, despots and assorted dictators who make up this commonwealth still do not wake up, there will be no stopping the American steamroller set in motion by the September 11 attacks. Apart from tiny Lebanon, in the entire Muslim world about the only leader to show some guts has been Mahathir Muhammad of Malaysia. He opposed the American air strikes on Afghanistan when they started and has since said that the so-called war on terror seemed to be directed only against Muslim countries. All other leaders, even when they have voiced reservations, have done so indirectly and ever so discreetly. As for us, we have succeeded in protecting our 'core' interests. Isn't that bravery enough? Malaysia (or Lebanon for that matter) does not have a Kahuta, an A. Q. Khan or a collection of atom bombs. No 'strategic assets' whatsoever, at least none of the kind covered by our understanding of the term. But because it is a country which stands on its feet, does not pay too much attention to what western leaders say and has a strong leader who can speak up when the need arises, it can dare tell even the unpleasant truth. Since September 11, Pakistan's ruling circles, supported by the country's 'moderates', have become the world's leading exponents of pragmatism. Their mantra: Pakistan had no choice. It either had to join the American coalition or invite American wrath. Had we hesitated the Americans would have clobbered our military and 'strategic' assets. By siding with the Americans Pakistan has been saved from American anger and its own extremists. It has also been able to break out of its isolation and rejoin the international mainstream. No one cares to answer a simple question. What would we have lost if we had chosen to negotiate the fine print of our cooperation with the US? Even America's European allies - with the exception, of course, of Britain - took some time to make up their minds before rushing in with offers of help. Would we have been declared international terrorists if we had negotiated with some toughness instead of being dazzled by the sudden attention we started getting? Now that the euphoria has gone what do we have to show for our caving in? Musharraf got his exclusive dinner with Bush in New York. Beyond that, what? Now of course all the rage in Pakistan is for settling matters with the 'extremists'. In a TV interview Musharraf has said that the extremists stood exposed and now was the time to move against them. By extremists he means the religious parties which rallied to the support of the Taliban when the American bombing of Afghanistan started. What is the guilt of these parties? At a critical moment they expressed a point of view which represented the views of a wide section of public opinion in Pakistan. They did not take up arms against the state or plant bombs anywhere. If anything, being faithful to their professed beliefs, they showed more spirit and determination than General Musharraf's so-called 'silent majority'. There is no cause to move against them except if the aim be to rock the foundations of the Pakistani state. The religious right is part of our landscape. It has always existed and will always exist and while it certainly does not speak for the majority, to move against it is to move against a limb (even if, at times, an awkward one) of Pakistan. While it is possible to disagree with the Jamaat-I-Islami and the JUI, these and other religious parties add to the richness of whatever political discourse exists in this country. For 20 years these parties were in the vanguard of official ideology. Now that under the threat of American retribution, Pakistan's official ideology has undergone a complete somersault - the military jehadis of yesterday becoming the secularists of today - the religious parties are being spoken of as some kind of outcasts. Not too long ago this government showed every sign of being scared of that religious mountebank from Chakwal, Maulana Akram Awan (into which part of the woods has he disappeared?). Now it has begun thundering against the religious tribe as a whole. We are extremists in everything. Let us at least be moderate in our inconsistencies. And in any case the answer to the nostrums of the religious parties is not suppression or the bravado at which the interior minister, General Haider, has come to excel, but in better governance and the spread of social justice. The religious madressahs cater for the poorest of the poor. Let the state provide universal education, and a glass of milk for every poor child in Pakistan, before inveighing against the madressahs. Before threatening to move against the religious parties let the state legitimize itself by acting on the great Omar's ringing cry that even if a dog went hungry by the banks of the Euphrates, God would hold him, the commander-of-the- faithful, accountable on the Day of Judgment. Let us also beware of the example of the Arab countries such as Algeria and Egypt where repression and the strangulation of democracy have led to the birth of radical Islam. Do we want the same to happen here? Riding a favourable wind, General Musharraf is all set to perpetuate his presidency. But pray God the experiment on which he is now embarked does not degenerate into what we have seen happening in places as far afield as Nigeria and Indonesia. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011201 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Governments from hell ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Irfan Husain Although the bombing and fighting in Afghanistan are not quite over, the endgame has clearly begun. It is now only a matter of time before the Taliban are history, and the reconstruction of our devastated neighbour will start in earnest. In retrospect, despite the death and destruction rained down on the unfortunate Afghans by the Americans, it is clear there was no alternative. This may be an unpopular viewpoint, but there are times when only foreign intervention can rid a people of vicious, repressive rulers. Indeed, a moral argument can be built up in favour of a short, sharp military action to free the citizens of a country from an unacceptable government. For instance, had the international community intervened in time in Cambodia's killing fields, the hateful Khmer Rouge may not have been able to slaughter as many people as they did. Or had that clown Idi Amin been booted out of Uganda earlier, he might not have inflicted as much damage to the country's economy and people as he did. Many more examples of such blood-thirsty and destructive leadership can be placed on this list, and many of them are still in the business of killing and torturing their own hapless citizens. We can now add the gruesome Taliban to this roll of dishonour. Irrespective of the revulsion we may feel at the sight of a helpless country being pounded for weeks by a far stronger power can we honestly say that the Afghans could have overthrown Mullah Omar, Osama Bin Laden, and their nasty followers by themselves? Surely there must be some international mechanism that can act as a check against the excesses committed by such governments from hell. Many knee-jerk liberals will protest against such "interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states." But what about the interference of countries like Pakistan that helped the Taliban's rise to power in the first place? The Soviets paid a heavy price for their invasion; indeed, many observers ascribe the implosion of the USSR (remember those once-familiar initials?) to the hammering its army suffered in Afghanistan. But apart from the hundreds of deluded Pakistani volunteers who fought for the Taliban and paid with their lives for their fanatical ardour, those in the Pakistani establishment who are responsible for our foolish Afghan policy are sitting pretty. No court of enquiry or public opprobrium for them. Nor am I aware of any resignations from the ISI or the Foreign Office. Actually, I would be quite happy with a hara kiri or two. Although we are now scrambling on to the bandwagon of a "broad- based government" in Kabul, we are doing so because we have no choice in the matter. The best we can hope for now is a diluted Northern Alliance regime next door that is not too vengeful for our past acts of omission and commission. Not, of course, that the victors of Kabul and Konduz are angels themselves: they qualified eminently for B-52 strikes during their reign of terror from 1992 to 1996. However, our policy makers can draw some comfort from the fact that whoever forms the next government in Kabul will have to deal with Islamabad whether they want to or not: as General Musharraf noted in a recent TV interview, most Afghan imports pass through Pakistan, and many Pukhtoon tribesmen (who constitute nearly 40 per cent of the Afghan population) have kinsmen across the border. In all probability, many of the goods and services needed for the reconstruction of our neighbour will either originate in Pakistan, or our port, rail and road network will be the conduit for their delivery in Afghanistan. This Afghan dependence on good ties with Pakistan has existed for years, and would have ensured stable relations between the two countries after the Soviets pulled out. But instead of being satisfied, our leaders and planners got the bit between their teeth and went for broke in the expectation that as the backers of the best-armed group of Mujahideen, they would be the sole power- brokers in Kabul. This hubris strained our relations with Tehran and further antagonized Moscow. As the infighting between rival groups exploded into open civil war and Kabul saw fighting far worse than when the Soviets were in control, the ISI under Benazir Bhutto saw the Taliban as its best chance to call the shots in Afghanistan. Training and supplying this medieval movement, the Pakistani establishment led it to victory as it swept to power virtually without a fight. Initially, it imposed a spell of welcome peace on a war-weary nation, but soon its bizarre and brutal interpretation of Islam sent a wave of revulsion around the world. In particular, its cruel treatment of women made it an international pariah. The Pakistani government should have known that their clients in Kabul were not only out of control, but also over the top when they went ahead and destroyed the priceless giant Buddhas in Bamiyan despite international protests. Our spooks and mandarins were disconcerted to discover that they exercised absolutely zero control over Mullah Omar. Instead of distancing themselves from the Taliban at that point, we continued supporting them, pleading with the rest of the world to "engage" with them. Whether our establishment is capable of learning from its mistakes is doubtful; but in the changed scenario and under the glare of international publicity, one can only hope that it stops playing power games in other countries and focuses on our many problems. Another lesson is to be learned by our Islamic parties and clerics: utopia is not to be created by enshrouding women, insisting on long beards, and turning our backs on education and reason. Neither logic, nor our faith requires such a return to the past. But I suspect that our jihadis will brood over their reverses in Afghanistan and plot their revenge. Meanwhile, hundreds of young Pakistanis, sent to Afghanistan as cannon fodder, will never return. But their bearded, self-styled leaders will not be held to account for all these unnecessary deaths. As the anti-terror rhetoric gets shriller and shriller, we need to address the problem of state terrorism directed against a country's own citizens. It is immoral and cowardly to hide behind the hackneyed notion of "non-interference". Just because a people are too cowed down by repressive regimes does not mean they should not be helped by the international community: if victims of natural calamities can be given assistance, why should not the sufferers of man-made disasters be helped to overthrow corrupt and cruel governments?
SPORTS 20011126 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PCB to send Shoaib's footage to Perth ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Correspondent LAHORE, Nov 25: The PCB bowling review committee watched Shoaib Akhtar's bowling action footage which was sent by the ICC. The PCB director, Brig Munawwar Rana, said the footage was being sent to Western Australian University and further line of action would be taken after its report. The PCB official said the review committee mentioned nothing new in its report and had cleared Shoaib. Earlier, Western Australian University had cleared Shoaib Akhtar by saying the bowling arm of the controversial pacer was deformed. The PCB has refused ICC's advice of hiring former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding for rectifying Shoaib's action and to submit a report by Feb 7. "Our panel has conceded that Akhtar's problem remains the same. It is the hyper mobility of his bowling arm which is causing problems." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011125 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Wasim explains no-show act ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 24: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram failed to appear at the Lahore High Court for a judicial inquiry investigating alleged match-fixing by Pakistan cricketers at the 1999 World Cup. But the seasoned fast bowler told Reuters that neither he nor his legal adviser had received any summons, and insisted he had nothing to hide. "I have nothing to hide from anyone on the match-fixing issue," he said. "If I or my legal adviser had received the summons from the commission for today, I would have made myself available." The inquiry, ordered by the Pakistan government to investigate allegations that two matches at the 1999 World Cup in Britain involving Pakistan were fixed, has scheduled its next hearing for December 1, Kazim Ali Malik, registrar of the inquiry commission, told Reuters from Lahore. Pakistan lost both World Cup matches to Bangladesh and India. Malik said a Karachi-based journalist had also failed to turn up to testify on Saturday. "We will issue fresh summons to Wasim and the journalist for the December 1 hearing. Even if for some reason they could not appear before the commission, they should have informed us in advance about this situation," Malik said. Malik said the commission had also not received any response from former South African cricket head Ali Bacher, who is the executive director for the 2003 World Cup.-Reuters ------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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