------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 17 November 2001 Issue : 07/46 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents | National News | Business & Economy | Editorials & Features | Sports
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CONTENTS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS + US planes drop bombs in Kurram Agency + Measures to close border reviewed + Troops arrive at Chaman border + 'Osama alert' + Nawabzada 'congratulates' CE + UN plan for new setup + All forces must pull out of Kabul: CE: UN peacekeepers demanded + Power-sharing formula yet to be finalized + War media centre to be set up + Six-plus-two ministers back UN efforts + Bush-Musharraf joint statement: text + Musharraf rules out interim govt + Musharraf to remain President + 'Pakistan's nuclear arsenal redeployed at new sites' + Osama can't have nukes, says President + UN corridors echo with Dawn report + Musharraf, Bush oppose Alliance's Kabul takeover + American response disappoints CE: F-16 aircraft issue + President wants US to release F-16 aircraft + America wants air base in Afghanistan, says Powell + Pakistan repulses Indian attack + Jihad Council rejects APHC's ceasefire call + Call for ceasefire in Valley + Strategic assets in safe hands: Musharraf + Military debt falling + Asif denies PPP-govt deal + Benazir to be treated according to law + SC reserves judgment on Asif's petition + Maulana Sami put under house arrest + Benazir concerned over journalist's expulsion + British journalist expelled + Fatyana gets 5 years in fraud case --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + Pakistan, US sign $600m agreement + Sweden reschedules $51m debt + Govt to transfer its WAPDA assets + Pakistan fighting for concessions on textiles + Creditors to bridge $3.2bn financing gap + Norway doubles annual assistance + Index gains 9.11 points as brisk trading continues --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + Homegrown terrorism Ardeshir Cowasjee + Why bomb civilians? Eric S. Margolis + Pakistan's red carpet fraying at the edges Ayaz Amir + Zero-sum games people play Irfan Husain + Terrorism is the symptom, not the disease Arundhati Roy ----------- SPORTS + Kashif's treble keeps Pakistan medal hopes alive + Pakistan win all three matches in Pool B + Pakistan complete hat trick of titles + Pakistan to get compensation + Imran backs Shoaib + Pakistan requests ICC to form special body + More trouble for Shoaib + PCB requests rejected + ICC refuses to treat Shoaib as special case + Shoaib apologizes over gestures
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS 20011117 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US planes drop bombs in Kurram Agency ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Abdul Sami Paracha KOHAT, Nov 16: US warplanes dropped bombs on border towns in the Kurram Agency, causing damage to various buildings and houses, official sources told Dawn. It was the first incident of bombardment on Pakistani territory since the start of air strikes against Afghanistan. Earlier, the US planes had twice hit the targets along the border on no-man's land. The assistant political agent of lower Kurram Agency, Wakil Khan, told this correspondent by telephone that two warplanes had dropped four bombs on Shahdal and Spina Shaga towns in the upper parts of the tribal territory and more inside Afghanistan in the Gurway Tangi. Mnay buildings and houses were damaged in the bombing, he said. No loss of human life was reported, he said. He said the Kurram Agency, predominantly a pro-Northern Alliance area, had been declared an "extremely sensitive" area after the Taliban's retreat. The official said that he had instructions not to allow anybody, including foreign journalists, from across the border. However, he added, there were no restrictions on the refugees who wanted to go back to their homeland. During the past many days, he pointed out, nearly 300 refugees had gone back to Afghanistan and more were being encouraged by the Afghan Commissionerate for Refugees and the local authorities to follow suit. The official said that security had been beefed up along the border and efforts were being made to guard the unmanned frontiers or far- flung porous areas. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011117 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Measures to close border reviewed ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Nov 16: President Gen Pervez Musharraf held a meeting with the governors of NWFP and Balochistan, and reviewed measures taken to ensure sealing of over 1,500km Durand Line. "Some troops have been moved to supplement the scouts and the Frontier Constabulary at the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The aim is to make sure that the border is sealed," President's spokesman Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi said at the daily foreign office briefing. The meeting, also attended by Vice Chief of Army Staff Gen Muhammad Yusaf Khan, Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider, corps commanders of Peshawar and Quetta, reviewed the internal security and the Afghan situation, he said. "Except for the extreme humanitarian cases nobody without valid travel documents would be allowed to enter Pakistan," said Maj-Gen Qureshi. The meeting was briefed about the impact of recent developments in Afghanistan on the western borders and influx of refugees. The meeting was informed about the coordinated steps, including the deployment of troops, civil armed forces, scouts and other assets, being taken for ensuring security on the western borders. Maj-Gen Qureshi refuted reports that tanks had also been moved to the areas bordering Afghanistan. He said the number of troops deployed on the borders was not very large. However, he added, they were enough to ensure sealing of the borders. The spokesman refuted reports that some bombs had been dropped inside the Pakistani territory. He said the authorities had verified and the bombs had been dropped close to Pakistani territory but not inside. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011116 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Troops arrive at Chaman border ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent QUETTA, Nov 15: Pakistan was deploying troops at Chaman border to secure its northern international frontiers with Afghanistan in the wake of the critical situation along the border. The troops began arriving at the border town Chaman, eyewitness said adding that tanks were seen for the first time in Chaman since the US attacks on Afghanistan. Official sources said that the troops' movement was part of routine exercises in the area. Also, reports coming from Kandahar say that the Taliban government has imposed night curfew in Kandahar and people were asked to stay indoors between 9pm and 6am. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011115 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Osama alert' ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: Pakistan has ordered a special watch on its border with Afghanistan in case Osama bin Laden tries to slip across, officials said. With pressure mounting on Kandahar, next to the Pakistan border, a top Pakistan government official said troops were on a special "Osama" alert. "The government is aware of all possibilities and is taking all possibilities into account," the official, who requested anonymity, told AFP. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011115 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Nawabzada 'congratulates' CE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter LAHORE, Nov 14: In highly sarcastic remarks, ARD President Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan 'congratulated' President Musharraf on his first 'success' in having US President Bush 'honour' his words about the Northern Alliance's entry in Kabul. Speaking to newsmen at his residence, he said at a joint news conference Presidents Bush and Musharraf had said that the Northern Alliance would not enter Kabul after the withdrawal of the Taliban. But, he pointed out, the Northern Alliance forces not only entered Kabul but NA representative in the United Nations also claimed that the forces had a nod from the United States. He said the NA forces were also committing atrocities, contrary to the US assurances given to President Musharraf. In his opinion, the situation in Afghanistan would remain unstable and the guerrilla war would go on in the foreseeable future. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011114 ------------------------------------------------------------------- UN plan for new setup ------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK, Nov 13: The United Nations proposed a five-point plan to establish an inclusive post-Taliban government in Afghanistan, which it said should be backed by an all-Afghan security force rather than a UN peacekeeping operation. The proposals were presented by the UN's envoy to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, to the UN Security Council, which convened hours after opposition Northern Alliance forces took over Kabul. The fast-paced military events in Afghanistan prompted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to urge the council to take "urgent action" to prevent a political and security vacuum there. The five points of the plan are: * The United Nations will convene a meeting between the Northern Alliance and other Afghan groups to discuss the political future of the country. * That meeting will take "concrete steps" to form a provisional council. * That council will discuss the transition to a new administration within two years. * A traditional Afghan council, a "Loya Jirga", of ethnic chiefs will be convened. * During a transitional phase, the "Loya Jirga" will meet a second time to set up a government. Mr Brahimi repeated UN demands for a broad-based, multi-ethnic, freely-chosen, "home-grown" government to replace the Taliban. Mr Annan, in his opening remarks to the council, urged neighbours of Afghanistan and the world to agree to a "broad- based, fully representative government which the UN has long been trying to help the Afghan people achieve". "This requires the end of interference in Afghanistan's affairs by neighbouring countries," he said. "Unless this happens - on the level of reality rather than just rhetoric - there can be little hope of lasting stability in Afghanistan," he said. However, Mr Brahimi said Iran and Pakistan have a "special role" and "legitimate interests" in Afghanistan because of their geographical and historical ties. The UN also plans to send a top official to Kabul as soon as security permits, and that it would convene a conference of various factions.-dpa/AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011114 ------------------------------------------------------------------- All forces must pull out of Kabul: CE: UN peacekeepers demanded ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISTANBUL, Nov 13: President Gen Pervez Musharraf called for all forces to withdraw from Kabul and the deployment of a UN force in the city following its capture by the Northern Alliance. "Kabul should remain a demilitarized city," Gen Musharraf said after a brief meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit during a stopover on his way from New York to Islamabad. The president stressed that Kabul's demilitarized status was very important to avoid ethnic clashes in the city that had led to atrocities in the past. "The Northern Alliance or any other group... must not enter Kabul because we know from the past experience the kind of atrocities and killings that took place in Kabul. We don't want that to happen again," he said. "It is very important that there is some kind of a UN umbrella and a UN force, maybe also specially composed of OIC countries, which means the Muslim countries, to be there for the purpose of giving stability," he said. Turkey and Pakistan, he added, could play a role in such a peacekeeping force. To avoid ethnic conflict in Afghanistan, a formula for the country's future administration should be outlined as soon as possible with the participation of all ethnic groups, including the dominant Pakhtoon, who form the majority of the Taliban, the president said. "We must come out with a political arrangement as fast as possible. The more this vacuum lasts, the more there will be a danger of infighting," he said. "Any political arrangement must be multi- ethnic according to the demographic composition of Afghanistan... There has to be a Pakhtoon representation, because at the moment within the Northern Alliance there is no Pakhtoon representation, this must emerge," he added. Pakistan, he pointed out, would not welcome any Taliban troops on its soil if they fled to Pakistan. "They must remain in Afghanistan, we would not like to accept anybody in Pakistan, we already have 2.5 million refugees, we cannot accept any more".-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011114 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Power-sharing formula yet to be finalized ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Mohammed Riaz PESHAWAR, Nov 13: The eastern zone Shoora, a military platform of the anti-Taliban commanders from Laghman, Nangarhar, Nooristan and Kunar provinces, has been tipped as the main component of the future political setup in Afghanistan. A group of European 'diplomats', who are staying in Peshawar, held meetings with the Shoora leaders and discussed modalities of the future arrangement in Kabul. Haji Zaman Ghamsharik, a spokesman for the Shoora, underlined the need for a national government, under the UN umbrella, to be set up in Afghanistan. He urged the world community to work for a conducive atmosphere in the war-ravaged country. Speaking to newsmen at the Rehman Lodge, Shoora's newly set up office in the University Town area, here on Tuesday, he asked the UN to help them in replacing Taliban, rapidly retreating from the every province of the country. The Pakhtoon-dominated Shoora is feeling uneasiness after the storming of Kabul and Jalalabad by the Uzbek and Takjik-dominated Northern Alliance forces, who had unruffled their tri-colour flag on the important government buildings. According to a European diplomat in Peshawar, "the status quo has been restored in Afghanistan with the commander Ismail Khan in Herat, Dostum in Mazar-i-Sharif and Gul Agha and Hamid Karzai in Kandahar. Haji Qadeer, brother of the slain commander Abdul Haq, will certainly take over Nangarhar province". Afghan politicians and commanders are in a sort of a confused haste to replace the Taliban. They have yet not, sources said, reached on a viable power-sharing formula, which will certainly give an edge to the Northern Alliance in political bargain with the pro-king forces. "The Northern Alliance has emerged being the conqueror of Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat and Kabul", said a Jamiat-i- Islami leader. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011113 ------------------------------------------------------------------- War media centre to be set up ------------------------------------------------------------------- By M. Arshad Sharif ISLAMABAD, Nov 12: The United States and the United Kingdom have asked Pakistan to facilitate the setting up of a 24-hour information centre in Islamabad by next week to launch a media campaign against terrorism. A US embassy official told Dawn that the proposed centre would be an effort to counter the Taliban and Osama bin Laden "propaganda". The information secretary, Anwar Mehmood, answering a question about Pakistan's decision not to allow Taliban to hold press conferences and facilitating the establishment of the US-ed coalition force's information centre, said that Pakistan did not stop the Taliban from the press conference but only reminded them the third country rule. The prime concern of the media managers, sources said, is that the media based in Pakistan splashes the "unfounded" Taliban claims around the world due to the fact that Pakistan is 10 hours ahead of Washington and five hours ahead of London. "By the time we can respond to the allegations, Taliban's lies have already become the headlines," a British official said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011113 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Six-plus-two ministers back UN efforts ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Masood Haider UNITED NATIONS, Nov 12: Foreign ministers of Six-Plus Two group on Afghanistan endorsed efforts of Secretary General's special representative on Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi to establish a broad-based Afghan administration on urgent basis. In a declaration issued following a short meeting of the group at the UN following the report of a plane crash in New York, the group said the post-Taliban government in Afghanistan should consist of multiple and wide-ranging ethnic groups. The group reaffirmed the central role of the UN in assisting the Afghan people in developing a political alternative to Taliban regime. The draft declaration marks the first time the Six Plus Two, comprising Pakistan, Iran, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, the US and Russia, presented a plan on the new Afghan government. The meeting was attended by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Russia's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Xiajung, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharzai, UN Special envoy on Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi. The rest of the governments were represented by their permanent delegates at the UN. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar, who was in New York at the time, was not allowed to move out of the hotel where he was staying by the US Secret Service. However, he was briefed later by the UN envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi. The group pledged continued support to the humanitarian efforts by the United Nations to alleviate the suffering of Afghan people, both inside Afghanistan and in refugee camps located in the neighbouring countries. The new government must satisfy the requests of Afghan citizens, protect human rights, bring about stability in the region and meet Afghanistan's international obligations such as halting drug dealing, they said. Earlier, Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar and the Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov met at the United Nations on Sunday and discussed the resolution of the Afghanistan situation. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011113 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bush-Musharraf joint statement: text ------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK, Nov 12: The following is the text of the joint statement issued after the meeting between US President George W. Bush and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday: President George W. Bush and President Pervez Musharraf met New York today and reaffirmed the strength and vitality of the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and the United States. The two Presidents expressed the conviction that the global coalition against terrorism is essential for the elimination of the Taliban regime and the Al-Qaida network and those who harbour them. President Musharraf welcomed the clear commitments expressed by President Bush to continued active United States engagement in Pakistan and the entire South Asian subcontinent. President Bush and President Musharraf reaffirmed the benefits of 50 years of friendship and close cooperation between Pakistan and the United States and recalled the pivotal role of the Pakistan-US alliance in the triumph of the free world at the end of the Cold War. They welcomed the revival of this longstanding partnership and expressed their conviction that it would constitute a vital element in the construction of a durable structure of peace, stability, economic growth and enhanced prosperity at the regional and global level. They also held wide- ranging discussions on the current anti-terrorism campaign and exchanged views on bilateral, regional, and international issues. President Musharraf strongly condemned the terrorist attacks of September 11 and conveyed the sympathy and solidarity of the people and government of Pakistan to the people and government of the United States. President Bush recognized Pakistan's role as a front-line state in the global campaign against terrorism and expressed gratitude for Pakistan's vital support in the international campaign. Both leaders agreed to continue their ongoing excellent cooperation and to pursue a coherent and coordinated diplomatic, political, military, economic, financial and humanitarian strategy to eliminate terrorism. President Bush stressed that the United States and Pakistan are friends of long-standing and that Pakistan is a great Islamic nation. He emphasized that the United States has great respect for Islam and noted the fast growth of the Islamic community in America. President Bush stated that our campaign is against those who pervert a great religion in the service of evil. President Bush and President Musharraf also discussed means of easing the plight of the Afghan refugees. President Bush recognized the leading role that Pakistan has played in receiving and caring for Afghan refugees and emphasized that the United States is the largest foreign donor of humanitarian aid. Even tonight, using our military resources, United States Planes are dropping badly needed food supplies to the Afghan people. The two presidents agreed that the international community will have to provide sizable and sustained resources for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. They also affirmed their support for the efforts of the United Nations, Secretary General Annan, and Special Envoy Brahimi. They agreed that peace and stability in Afghanistan can be achieved through the institution of a broad- based, multi-ethnic, representative government, established through consensus among Afghans, and evolved under the auspices of the United Nations. They also acknowledged that Afghanistan should enjoy friendly relations with all its neighbours and be a link between Central and South Asian, and free from the scourge of terrorism and drugs. President Musharraf welcomed President Bush's decision to lift a number of sanctions that allow the resumption of cooperation with Pakistan. They agreed that the bilateral relationship is built on the shared interests and values of the American and Pakistani peoples. President Bush welcomed the efforts that the Pakistani citizens are making to support the coalition, against terrorism. Affirming their commitment to Pakistan's economic stabilization and revival program, President Bush pledged to promote economic assistance to Pakistan. President Bush confirmed that he will extend support to enable Pakistan to respond to the economic challenges it confronts. The two presidents discussed ways to make good on the enormous potential for increased trade and investment between Pakistan and the United States and agreed to enter into extensive talks regarding economic issues. President Bush affirmed that the United States is committed to working with the international financial institutions to provide additional support for Pakistan. Financial assistance, debt relief, greater trade and investment opportunities, and sound Pakistani economic policies should assist Pakistan in its efforts to spur sustainable economic growth. Additionally, President Bush undertook to consider ways to respond to Pakistan's market access expectations. They also acknowledged that Afghanistan should enjoy friendly relations with all its neighbors and be a link between Central and South Asia and free from the scourge of terrorism and drugs. President Musharraf welcomed President Bush's decision to lift a number of sanctions that allow the resumption of cooperation with Pakistan. They agreed that the bilateral relationship is built on the shared interests and values of the American and Pakistani peoples. President Bush welcomed the efforts that the Pakistani citizens are making to support the coalition against terrorism. Affirming their commitment to Pakistan's economic stabilization and revival program, President Bush pledged to promote economic assistance to Pakistan. President Bush confirmed that he will extend support to enable Pakistan to respond to the economic challenges it confronts. The two presidents discussed ways to make good on the enormous potential for increased trade and investment between Pakistan and the United States and agreed to enter into extensive talks regarding economic issues. President Bush affirmed that the United States is committed to working with the international financial institutions to provide additional support for Pakistan. Financial assistance, debt relief, greater trade with investment opportunities, and sound Pakistani economic policies should assist Pakistan in its efforts to spur sustainable economic growth. Internationally, President Bush undertook to consider ways to respond to Pakistan's market access expectations. President Bush and President Musharraf discussed a broad range of regional security issues. Both underscored the importance of Pakistan to have a successful transition to democracy in 2002. President Bush and President Musharraf agreed to continue and expand defence consultations. President Bush and President Musharraf expressed shared concern about the threat to global stability posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. They agreed on the need for a comprehensive approach to counter these threats, including enhanced non-proliferation measures at the global and regional level. President Musharraf looked forward to further discussions with the United States on these issues. The two leaders discussed ways to promote stability in South Asia. President Bush praised President Musharraf's recent call to Prime Minister Vajpayee of India. President Bush and President Musharraf agreed that India and Pakistan should resolve the Kashmir issue through diplomacy and dialogue in mutually acceptable ways that take into account the wishes of the people of Kashmir. President Bush and President Musharraf resolved to work together closely to expand bilateral and regional trade. They agreed that launching a new global trade round in Doha is a top priority for both nations. They confirmed their commitment to achieve open markets in South Asia, including using the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation's (SAARC) full potential more effectively. The two leaders agreed that the United States will continue to take steps to strengthen Pakistan's economy. They agreed that the United States and Pakistan can accomplish great things together and that the American and Pakistani peoples look forward to building peace, stability and prosperity, both in South Asia and around the world.- APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011114 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Musharraf rules out interim govt ------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK, Nov 13: President Pervez Musharraf has quashed speculation that he is planning an interim political government or changes in his cabinet. When asked if there was any truth in such reports during his briefing to Pakistani correspondents, he said: "The chances of an interim arrangement, or changes in the cabinet or establishment of a political government are zero." Then he added, not without a broad smile, "Zero over zero, zero into zero, zero plus zero, multiplied by zero and zero equal to zero." Asked if all these zeros were on record, he replied: "Yes, every one of them."-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011112 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Musharraf to remain President ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent NEW YORK, Nov 11: Gen Pervez Musharraf said that he would remain President of Pakistan, for the foreseeable future, beyond October 2002 election. Appearing in the NBC news program "Meet the Press," Gen Musharraf held out an assurance that elections to national and provincial assemblies would be held as stipulated by him. But he said emphatically that he would remain President whatever the election result. He said former prime minister Benazir Bhutto would be arrested if she returned to Pakistan. "She has to face the charges in the court of law," he added. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011112 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Pakistan's nuclear arsenal redeployed at new sites' ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent NEW YORK, Nov 11: President Pervez Musharraf ordered an emergency redeployment of the country's nuclear arsenal to at least six secret new locations and has reorganized military oversight of the nuclear forces in the weeks since Pakistan joined the US campaign against terrorism, the Washington Post said quoting senior officials in Islamabad. Pakistan's military began relocating critical nuclear weapons components within two days of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, fearful of possible strikes against the country's nuclear facilities, military officials said. Another reason for the movement, officials added, was to remove them from air bases and corridors that might be used by the United States in an attack on Afghanistan, the Post said. President Musharraf also created a new Strategic Planning Division within the nuclear programme, headed by a three-star general to oversee operations. This decision, not previously disclosed, was part of the shuffle of top military and intelligence leaders just hours before the US bombing of Afghanistan began on Oct 7. The shake-up was designed to sideline officers considered too sympathetic to the Taliban or other extremist religious factions, officials said. Gen Musharraf's move was to help keep control of the nuclear program out of the hands of religious hard-liners in the military if he was assassinated or ousted from office, officials said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011112 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Osama can't have nukes, says President ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent UNITED NATIONS, Nov 11: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said that he could not imagine that Osama bin Laden could be having nuclear weapons, despite the claims he made in an interview carried by Dawn. However, he added: "Chemical weapons are a possibility. But I have no such information." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011112 ------------------------------------------------------------------- UN corridors echo with Dawn report ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dawn Report NEW YORK, Nov 11: The Dawn report about Osama bin Laden's claim that he possesses nuclear biological weapons and could possibly use them was the most talked about story in the corridors of the United Nations where world leaders met to declare war on terrorism. Most world leaders expressed horror and disbelief at the claim made by Osama. US President Bush, at the joint press conference with President Musharraf, remarked: "It proves that he is an evil man." He noted that Osama "has now targeted Pakistan and Gen Pervez Musharraf in particular." President Musharraf, on his part, dismissed Osama's claim, saying, "I can't imagine he has any nuclear weapons." But he added that "chemical weapons is another matter." Almost every newspaper and television channel in the United States carried the report prominently and Dawn was referred to as the "most respected newspaper of Pakistan." Almost every television talk show in the United States (CNN, ABC TV, CBS TV, Fox TV network, and NBC etc) was reacting to the report and every known commentator was forced to respond to Osama's latest threat. US Secretary of State Colin Powell dismissed Osama's claim as a "wild boast and threat" and said America would not use nuclear force against him. Powell, speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," said he had no idea whether the man accused in the Sept 11 attacks on the United States possessed chemical or biological weapons. "I have no way of knowing, but I think it unlikely that he has any nuclear weapons," Powell said on the morning talk show, calling the assertion, "a wild boast and threat. I can't say about chemical and biological. But this is the kind of threat that this evil person likes to toss around." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011112 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Musharraf, Bush oppose Alliance's Kabul takeover ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Tahir Mirza and Masood Haider NEW YORK, Nov 11: Convergence of views on the current military campaign and a future dispensation in Afghanistan, a US pledge of increased economic assistance and agreement on diplomacy and dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue marked President Pervez Musharraf's first meeting with President Bush. A joint statement issued after the talks was short on specifics, but Pakistani spokesmen described the discussions between the two presidents spread over two hours as marking the revival of an old relationship and the beginning of a new one. Talking briefly to reporters after the meeting, Gen Musharraf said Pakistan and the US had identical views on a post-Taliban setup based on the wishes of the people, and Mr Bush indicated that while the Northern Alliance would be encouraged to move south, the US would not want the alliance forces to enter Kabul. This was described as the most specific comment so far by the US president on the direction of the war in Afghanistan and apparently backed the assessment of Gen Musharraf, who said his view that Kabul should not be taken by the alliance was based on the past experience of mayhem in the Afghan capital. President Bush, in his brief appearance before the press with Gen Musharraf following his talks with the Pakistani leader, said the US would give up to $1 billion in aid to Pakistan, but it remained unclear whether this included the $600 million previously pledged by Washington after the campaign crisis began and sanctions were lifted from Pakistan. Perhaps more important was Mr Bush's remark that the administration hoped for legislation that would enable the US to improve market access for Pakistani goods. Mr Bush also said he was pleased to hear from Gen Musharraf that the Pakistan president remained committed to his promise to return his country to democratic rule. Mr Bush praised Pakistan's efforts in the fight against terrorism which, he said, benefited the entire world and linked Pakistan more closely with the international community. "The US wants to help Pakistan build these linkages. I've authorized a lifting of sanctions, and over $1 billion in US support. I will also help debt relief for Pakistan." Asked to comment on the Osama bin Laden's interview published in Dawn in which he warned he had nuclear and chemical weapons and would use them if similar weapons were deployed by America, Mr Bush said he did not know what to believe and what not to believe in what Osama bin Laden said. But one thing he knew was that Osama bin Laden was "evil" and that what he had said only made it more pressing to bring him to justice. According to the joint statement, President Bush said he was committed to working with international financial institutions to provide additional support for Pakistan, and undertook to consider ways to respond to Pakistan's market access expectations. There was, however, no word later from the Pakistani delegation of any details, and it seemed that the US side was still in the process of considering how best to help Islamabad meet the economic challenges it faces. The two leaders expressed shared concern about the threat to global stability posed by the proliferation of ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction. They agreed on the need for a comprehensive approach to counter these threats, including enhanced non-proliferation measures at the global and regional level. Referring to South Asia, the joint statement said Gen Musharraf and Mr Bush "discussed ways to promote stability in South Asia. President Bush praised President Musharraf's recent call to Prime Minister Vajpayee of India. President Bush and President Musharraf agreed that India and Pakistan should resolve the Kashmir issue through diplomacy and dialogue in mutually acceptable ways that took into account the wishes of the people of Kashmir." The Bush-Musharraf meeting followed a meeting between the US president and Mr Vajpayee a day earlier in Washington. Despite some reports that President Bush would invite Gen Musharraf for a more formal visit to Washington, the joint statement did not contain any mention of this, and the Pakistan briefing after the talks brought no clarification either on this point. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011112 ------------------------------------------------------------------- American response disappoints CE: F-16 aircraft issue ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dawn Report NEW YORK, Nov 11: President Gen Pervez Musharraf speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" expressed disappointment with the US decision of not releasing the F-16s to Pakistan, and suggested that he was speaking about gestures which were more important than the planes themselves. President Musharraf said that the US refusal to sell the fighter jets has been "received negatively" by citizens in his country. "This is one issue held very much against the United States," Musharraf said on "Fox News Sunday." At a press briefing, Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi, spokesman for President Musharraf, downplayed the importance of getting F-16s, suggesting that the New York Times got the wrong impression. However, in the interview with the NBC news program President Musharraf said that he did ask for the planes of US President George Bush on Saturday as a gesture and expressed his disappointment with the US response. The Bush administration said it will not transfer to Pakistan American F-16 fighter jets. "There are no plans now to transfer those airplanes to Pakistan," said US secretary of state Colin Powell. Mr Powell, speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," said the US has a new military dialogue with Pakistan "but at the moment it does not include the transfer of those F-16s." Separately, Mr Powell said Pakistan and India need to enter talks over Kashmir region, but the United States would not play a key role in settling the dispute. "To the extent that the United States could be helpful in fostering this dialogue, fine, but we cannot become the mediator, or the arbitrator or the intermediary between them," Mr Powell said. Gen Musharraf on his part said President Bush had promised to facilitate talks. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011111 ------------------------------------------------------------------- President wants US to release F-16 aircraft ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent NEW YORK, Nov 10: President Pervez Musharraf said that he would seek concrete "gestures" from the United States, including release of F-16 fighters to demonstrate its appreciation of Pakistan support in the US campaign against terrorism. In an interview with the New York Times, he said "visible gestures" of gratitude from the United States would help blunt public criticism of his decision to ally his country strongly with Washington. He placed special emphasis on the F-16's, because their arrival would be the most visible sign that the United States was restoring Pakistan to the stature of a genuine ally. The Times said that Gen Musharraf was not reticent in voicing his grievance with this treatment. Saying that "Pakistan certainly desires a long-standing and sustainable relationship with the United States," he said that "trust has to be built." When asked whose fault it was, he said, "As a Pakistani, I have to say the fault lies with the United States." Gen Musharraf said there was a widespread sense that Washington abandoned Pakistan. "The main issue is we were part of a coalition," he said. "We fought a war together and evicted the Soviet Union from Afghanistan." The gestures that would reverse these wrongs, he said, should include major debt relief, military assistance, and more understanding for the sensitivity of the Pakistani public on the issue of its nuclear weapons. "The opinion of the people of Pakistan has to be moulded, and it can be done through gestures," he told the paper. Gen Musharraf said he could not predict how long the bombing campaign could continue before the opposition within Pakistan became a threat to his government. He said he felt the intensity of demonstrations was actually diminishing. Asked whether he felt slighted by Washington and by the Indian prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, he hesitated and said: "Well, sometimes, yes." He said this was understandable because he was a military man who had seized power. The times said that the general spoke as reports came that Mazar-i- Sharif in northern Afghanistan had fallen to the Northern Alliance. He commended the victory and said he had no reservations if the American-led coalition decided to set up a forward air base at the airfield near the town. However, Gen Musharraf said that he was worried that the military victory had come when there still no broad-based coalition in the making to replace the Taliban if their grip on power dissolves. That problem would become more acute, he suggested, if and when the Northern Alliance began moving into Pakhtoon territory, where the Taliban have their strength, and specially into the capital, Kabul. Mazar-i-Sharif population is predominantly Uzbek. "I'm worried that Kabul should not be militarized because of the atrocities committed in the city," he said, alluding to the last time the Northern Alliance was in control of the city in 1996. Gen Musharraf acknowledged that Pakistan bore a major responsibility in the efforts to forge a military alternative to the Taliban, but that this was still a work in progress. He said Afghans had been meeting in Islamabad and Peshawar to try to find some formula for a broad-based ethnic administration, the paper said. "There's no alternative on the Pakhtoon side," he said, referring to the dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan. US not to release planes: NEW YORK: The United States is not considering releasing F-16s to Islamabad despite President Pervez Musharraf had asked to do so, a senior US administration official said.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011111 ------------------------------------------------------------------- America wants air base in Afghanistan, says Powell ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent LOS ANGELES, Nov 10: The US Secretary State, Colin Powell, said an airbase in Afghanistan would be beneficial for the US air force, saying "we must be patient with the Afghan resistance." In an exclusive interview with a leading US channel, CBS, Powell said: "I think an airbase under our control in northern Afghanistan would facilitate a number of things that include humanitarian relief operations, but it is not absolutely essential to the campaign that we are conducting now." He said the campaign was going well. "But we have to be patient and we have to remember that we've come into Afghanistan with a First World air force and now we're linking up our First World air force with Third World ground forces that are becoming more capable day by day, with a re- supply and ammunition being supplied by us as well as very, very brave American soldiers on the ground assisting them and showing them how best to do a ground attack against the kind of enemy they're facing and how best to integrate what a First World air force can do for you," Powell said. However, most of the time Powell discussed the crisis in the Middle East, especially Palestine-Israel relations. Powell clearly told CBS that there was no plan for a meeting between President Bush and Chairman Yasir Arafat in New York this week. "I hope that I'll be able to meet with him, and we're working on that, so that we can continue our discussions about how we can get closer to a ceasefire and get into the Mitchell peace plan process that will lead the negotiations. But there are no plans for the President and Mr Arafat to meet." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011113 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan repulses Indian attack ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 12: Pakistan army effectively repulsed an unprovoked Indian attack in the Gyong sector, Siachen. According to the Inter-Service Public Relations, approximately a company strength of Indian army supported by heavy artillery and mortar fire attacked a Pakistani post situated in Gyong in a bid to occupy it. The Pakistani soldiers manning the post detected the Indian move and repulsed the attack, inflicting heavy casualties upon the Indian troops. The bodies of three soldiers were still lying abandoned near the post, the ISPR said. In another incident along the Line of Control the same night, Indian forces resorted to indiscriminate mortar and small arm firing on innocent civilians in Hajipir area of the Bagh sector and Eftikharabad area of the Chamb sector.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011114 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Jihad Council rejects APHC's ceasefire call ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent MUZAFFARABAD, Nov 13: The Mutahidda Jihad Council (MJC) termed "untimely, unnecessary and unwise," the ceasefire call by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. "The MJC feels that at a time when the freedom movement is making successful advances on all fronts, the ceasefire appeal by some Hurriyat leaders is an untimely, unnecessary and unwise step, and a deliberate or unintentional attempt to impair the ongoing armed struggle," observed the MJC at its "emergent meeting" presided over by its chairman, Syed Salahuddin, here. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011113 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Call for ceasefire in Valley ------------------------------------------------------------------- SRINAGAR, Nov 12: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference called for a ceasefire by all groups, including Indian occupation forces and Mujahideen, in Kashmir. "We propose that India, Pakistan, the APHC and other parties concerned call for a ceasefire," APHC chief Abdul Gani Bhat told reporters. "The APHC proposes that India, Pakistan and the APHC initiate negotiations with the seriousness and purpose to move forward. All parties (should) come forward and resolve the issue of Kashmir as per the wishes of the people of the troubled state," he said. INDIA WARNED: Mr Bhat said it may call on people to take to the streets in protest if India did not stop human rights violations in Kashmir. "Enough is enough. The APHC has decided that we may call upon the people to come on the streets if things do not improve," said Mr Bhat.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011111 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Strategic assets in safe hands: Musharraf ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Tahir Mirza and Masood Haider UNITED NATIONS, Nov 10: Declaring that Pakistan was "deeply conscious of the nuclear dimension of the security environment of our region", President Gen Pervez Musharraf said that Pakistan's strategic assets were well-guarded and in safe hands. Gen Musharraf, who was addressing the UN General Assembly session attended by heads of state and government, said that Pakistan had "instituted an elaborate nuclear command control mechanism for ironclad custodial controls to ensure the safety and security of our assets." Gen Musharraf expressed Islamabad's readiness to "discuss nuclear missile restraints as well as well nuclear risk-reduction measures with India in a structured, comprehensive, and integrated dialogue". He said Pakistan, conscious of the danger posed by the nuclear dimension in South Asia and the responsibility it placed on India and Pakistan, was ready to discuss how the two countries could establish a stable regional security mechanism through a peaceful resolution of disputes, preservation of the nuclear and conventional balance, confidence-building measures and non-use of force as prescribed by the UN charter. Gen Musharraf strongly deplored the terrorist acts of Sept 11, but said terrorism was not a Christian, Buddhist, Jewish or a Muslim belief and had to be condemned whether it was perpetrated by an individual or a group or a state. He also emphasized that the real causes that lead to extreme acts should be understood. He said: "To my mind, it is the unresolved political disputes the world over, disputes in Bosnia, Kosovo, Palestine, Kashmir and other places. Unfortunately all these disputes involve Muslims, and more sadly, the Muslims happen to be the victims which tends to give a religious tinge to these otherwise political disputes." The lack of progress in the resolution of these disputes had created a sense of deprivation, helplessness and powerlessness. Referring to constant Indian criticism about "cross-border terrorism," the general said: "The frustration gets even worse when disputes like Kashmir and Palestine remain unsettled for decades despite UN Security Council resolutions. "The question then is whether it is the people asking for their rights in accordance with UN resolutions who are to be called terrorists or whether it is the countries refusing to implement UN resolutions who are perpetrators of state terrorism." He pointed out that Indian occupation forces in Kashmir had killed over 5,000 Kashmiris but attributed these killings to foreign terrorists, adding that it was time India ended "such deceit". Security Council resolutions on Kashmir must be implemented. In the context of the events of Sept 11, Gen Musharraf said Pakistan had tried its "utmost with the Afghan government, ever since Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda became an international issue, till the last moment to avert military action in Afghanistan. Regrettably, we did not meet with success, and the coalition operation against terrorism continued with no immediate end in sight." Sadly, he said, civilian casualties were getting projected more as an open war against the already poor, suffering and innocent people of Afghanistan. Gen Musharraf called for the military operation to be as short and accurately targeted as possible, and it was also essential that a fall-back political strategy was evolved that could achieve the same objective as was sought through the military campaign. He reaffirmed his promise of holding elections to provincial and national assemblies in October 2002 in accordance with the roadmap announced by him last August "despite the prevailing environment in the region". DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011116 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Military debt falling ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Sabihuddin Ghausi KARACHI, Nov 15: Pakistan's military debt is showing a steady decline in last four years in actual amount and also as a ratio against total external liabilities indicating that government is servicing its defence liabilities regularly. >From $1,006 million in fiscal 1998, Pakistan's military debt has been provisionally estimated at $825 million in fiscal year 01 by the State Bank of Pakistan in its annual report of 2000-2001 released late last month. In fact it was SBP's annual report of 1999-00 released in first week of November last year that revealed for the first time in history Pakistan's military debt amounting to $958 million, which was 3.53 per cent of $27.65 billion of public and publicly guaranteed debt. In last one year, the government has paid $133 million to bring down the outstanding military debt from $958 to $825 million. Its ratio against public and publicly guaranteed debt has come down to 3.1 per cent. Pakistan's outstanding military debt in 1999 fiscal year was $1,004 million, which was 3.73 per cent of total $26,904 million debt. In 1998 the military debt was $1,006 million and was 3.79 per cent of the total debt. The SBP report is silent on the source from where military debts have been obtained and does not provide any information on its terms and rate of returns. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011115 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Asif denies PPP-govt deal ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: Asif Ali Zardari dispelled reports that the PPP has struck a deal with the military government. Talking to reporters at an accountability court, he asked the government to immediately hold general elections as only a civilian government could handle the situation in the post-Taliban era. On Wednesday, two corruption references, the ARY gold and the SGS pre-shipment inspection award cases, were fixed. The cases were adjourned for Nov 27 and Nov 29 respectively without any hearing on the request of the prosecutor general, who could not appear before the court. Mr Zardari said he would not repeat the mistake which former prime minister had committed by leaving the country. He said he would face the situation. He said former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was serving the interests of the country abroad in a better way. When asked to suggest when Ms Bhutto was likely to return after the reported understanding between the PPP and the government, he said: "Ultimately she has to come to Pakistan as she belongs here. She will be in the country the moment the situation becomes conducive for her arrival in Pakistan." He was of the view that the situation in Afghanistan was very fluid, the fallout of which in Pakistan could only be handled appropriately by a political government. Therefore, the government should hold elections as early as possible, he suggested. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011111 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Benazir to be treated according to law ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: Ms Benazir Bhutto will be treated according to law whenever she returns to Pakistan, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior. When asked whether Ms Bhutto had contacted the Interior Ministry following the remarks of the Interior Minister at a press conference in Karachi in which the Minister had said that Ms Bhutto would not be arrested if she returned to face trial, the spokesman said no such contact had been made. He, however, explained that the minister's remarks were made in a general context in answer to a question and all actions taken by the government would be strictly in accordance with the law.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011116 ------------------------------------------------------------------- SC reserves judgment on Asif's petition ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Nov 15: The supreme court reserved its judgment on the petition of Asif Ali Zardari, demanding that his cases be shifted from Attock to Rawalpindi, and the order of shifting him to Karachi, after three months stay in Islamabad, should be reviewed to make it meaningful. The SC bench comprising Justice Shaikh Riaz Ahmed Justice Mian Muhammad Ajmal and Justice Syed Deedar Hussain Shah, after hearing Raja Mohammad Anwar, Farooq H. Naek, counsel for the petitioner and Raja Mohammad Bashir, prosecutor-general accountability, reserved the judgment. In the review petition, Asif Ali Zardari asked the apex court to review its earlier judgment wherein it was held that he would be kept in Rawalpindi for three months, and if his cases in Rawalpindi were not concluded in that period he would be shifted to Karachi for appearing in case there. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011111 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Maulana Sami put under house arrest ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: The chairman of Pakistan-Afghanistan Defence Council, Maulana Samiul Haq, was put under house arrest to prevent him rousing unrest against the government. "Police have directed me not to leave my home," he told AFP by telephone from his home town of Akora Khattak. "They have surrounded my house and no one is allowed to go out. This is sheer injustice." Police said they were acting on orders to prevent the religious leader from entering Punjab to plan protests against Pakistan's support for the US military campaign against the Taliban. The chairman of the PADC, Samiul Haq, is a vocal supporter of the Taliban militia. Maulan Sami said his son, Hamid ul Haq Haqqani, had also been arrested under laws which allow the detention of people suspected of plotting unrest. The move came ahead of the council's eight- member central committee meeting scheduled in Islamabad on Saturday to discuss nationwide anti-US protests. Party members said the meeting had been cancelled.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011113 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Benazir concerned over journalist's expulsion ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Nov 12 : Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has expressed concern over the expulsion of a British journalist Christina Lamb and her colleague. In a statement issued here she called upon the government to review its decision. Ms Bhutto noted that Ms Lamb denied the press story that she tried to buy a plane ticket in the name of Osama Bin Laden. She said she was shocked to learn that Ms Lamb and her colleague were woken up in the early hours and taken away without being able to contact anyone. They were also kept awake for two nights without water. She said, "this is terrifying experience for ordinary Pakistanis and all the more for foreigners used to a different culture". Ms Bhutto said, "Islamabad needs to do all it can to improve the country's image by acting in a humane manner. It can start by reviewing its action against Ms Lamb and her colleague". DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011112 ------------------------------------------------------------------- British journalist expelled ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: British journalist Christina Lamb was expelled from Pakistan for being involved in undesirable activities, authorities said. They said Ms Lamb reached Islamabad airport along with photographer Justin Hallivet after being expelled from Quetta. However, upon reaching Islamabad airport lounge Ms Lamb staged a drama, the authorities said, and added that she tore off her trousers to protest against her expulsion. Later, Christina Lamb was put on a wheel-chair by the security staff and driven to the plane where she was handed over to the PIA security staff. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011115 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Fatyana gets 5 years in fraud case ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter LAHORE, Nov 14: An accountability court awarded five-year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs1 million on former education minister Riaz Fatyana for fraud. In case of default, he will have to undergo another two-year RI.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY 20011116 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan, US sign $600m agreement ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 15: Pakistan and the United States signed an agreement under which Washington would provide $600 million in direct budget and balance-of-payments support to Islamabad. Agreement to this effect was signed here by Economic Affairs Division Secretary Nawid Ahsan and US Ambassador to Pakistan Wendy Chamberlin. The ambassador also detailed the "billion dollar plus" package for the people of Pakistan. She said that President George W. Bush had announced an over $1 billion aid package for the people of Pakistan. Today, the ambassador said, they signed a memorandum of agreement to provide an important piece for that "one billion dollar plus" package. "It is $600 million and over Rs36 billion in grant aid," she added. The ambassador elaborated that it was a grant aid for direct budget and balance-of-payments support to assist Pakistan in its foreign exchange needs, adding the US was helping Pakistan to get out of its debt trap and "we are encouraging others in the Paris Club to do the same". Ms Chamberlin said that Rs36 billion would help Pakistan in its social sector priorities, including education, job creations and health. She said the aid was being provided to support the government's reform agenda and to mitigate the impact of the economic downturn on the Pakistan economy. In addition to $600 million, the ambassador said the US had also agreed to provide the following bilateral assistance to Pakistan: * $73 million in border security funds to assist federal, provincial and district governments in controlling Pakistan's long border. * A $300 million line of credit for investment promotion from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. And an unspecified amount from the US Export-Import Bank. * $30 million in section 416 (b) soybeans and soybean oil. * $17.4 million in ongoing support to the NGOs involved in education, health, women's empowerment and micro-finance. * $15 million in refugee assistance in Pakistan. * $3.1 million on child labour eradication programme in the soccer ball and carpet weaving industries. * $2.8 million in direct support to education. * $1.8 million to support democracy and governance programmes through NGOs. * $34 million in ongoing counter-narcotics programmes. * $6.5 million in anti-terrorism interdiction training programme. * $150,000 to local NGOs for education, health and local government empowerment under the Democracy Small Grants Programme. The ambassador said that her government had made plans to increase US development assistance, including the opening of a USAID mission to Pakistan. The mission will focus on education and health programmes at the district level. In addition, she said the US government had also taken the following steps to support Pakistan: * On Sept 24, an agreement was signed to reschedule $379 million in government-to-government debt owed by Pakistan to the United States. * All US nuclear, military takeover and debt sanctions were withdrawn as of Oct 20, permitting the resumption in bilateral support to Pakistan. * The US committed to support an IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility for Pakistan. * The US supports an additional rescheduling of Pakistan's bilateral debt at the up-coming Paris Club meeting. Mr Aziz thanked the US for providing over $1 billion economic assistance to Pakistan for the development of social sector, poverty reduction, human resource development and reducing debt burden. He hoped that the Pakistan-US relationship would be strengthened.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011114 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sweden reschedules $51m debt ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: Pakistan and Sweden signed a debt rescheduling accord worth $51.320 million for repayment in 30 semi-annual installments, from Nov 1, 2004. The agreement was signed by Nawid Ahsan, Secretary, Economic Affairs Division and by Peter Tejler, Ambassador of Sweden in Pakistan on behalf of his government. Negotiations were held between Pakistan and Sweden governments on the consolidation and rescheduling of debt owed by the former to the latter, in pursuance of the agreed minute of the Paris Club signed on January 23, 2001. An agreement was signed here on Tuesday, under which debt service payments of $51.320m due during March 1, 2000 to Sept 30, 2001 have been consolidated and rescheduled for repayment in 30 instalments.- APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011112 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Govt to transfer its WAPDA assets ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: The government has decided to transfer its 100 per cent assets and ownership in WAPDA to 12 corporate companies through a presidential ordinance. Official sources told Dawn that the change of titles (commonly called "Transfer of Titles" in the official jargon) through the ordinance would enable the government to shift its ownership automatically to 12 corporate companies without going into the technical nitty-gritty. The proposal has come from the World Bank that is co- financing a $1 billion power sector restructuring and corporatization plan to unbundle the multi-billion-rupee 'Residual WAPDA' into 12 corporate companies and their subsequent privatisation, these sources said. The steering committee on the restructuring of WAPDA is expected to meet soon in the ministry of finance on the subject, Mirza Hamid Hassan, Secretary Water and Power confirmed to Dawn . Official sources said that a draft ordinance was in the process of vetting and expected to be promulgated sometime next month following approval by the cabinet by the end of this month. The World Bank suggested transfer of titles through an ordinance, instead of an executive order, as the mechanism was used successfully in some other countries, WAPDA's Member (finance), Manzoor Shaikh said. The valuation of WAPDA assets like real estate, machinery, investments, life of the plants and buildings on the basis of book value is already under way but this would not form basis for pricing at the time of privatisation, official sources said. WAPDA's shares were transferred in the name of president of Pakistan/Pakistan Electric Power Company last year from WAPDA itself following a number of reminders from the World Bank for onward transfer to Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), the holding company responsible for corporatization of WAPDA. The unbundled corporate companies include eight distribution companies (Discos), three generation companies (Gencos) and a National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) and have been registered independently under the Companies Ordinance, 1984. These sources said that transfer pricing and financial modelling exercise has been completed by WAPDA and discussed with the WB but the two issues were required to be finalized and approved by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra). Another reform measure that was still behind schedule related to completion of distribution and generation licences to the corporate companies that has now just started. These sources said that once Nepra completed the licensing process the final mechanism for transfer pricing would emerge and then approved by the Nepra. The financial modelling of corporate companies is required to be completed by December 31, 2001, they said. These sources said that the question relating to exemption of WAPDA companies from provincial taxes had been agreed to with the provincial authorities against some adjustments in tariffs but a notification to that effect had not been issued due to some legal complications. On federal tax exemptions, said the sources, the finance minister has informed WAPDA in no uncertain terms that the days of tax exemptions were gone and hence the corporate companies must reduce their losses to cover the fiscal gap. The WAPDA has, however, told the government that if income tax exemptions were not granted, the majority of the Discos and Gencos would be filing no returns because they did not earn profits at all. Consequently, the interim order by the chief executive relating to withholding tax has also been put on hold, these sources said. As things stand now, notification on provincial tax exemptions, federal tax exemptions, particularly the income tax and the withholding tax, transfer of WAPDA employees to Discos and Gencos and transfer of assets, were some of the requirements that are still either in the process or behind the schedule agreed with the World Bank, the WAPDA sources confirmed. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011113 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan fighting for concessions on textiles ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Shadaba Islam DOHA, Nov 12: The developing nations including Pakistan were fighting hard to secure key concessions on textiles, anti-dumping rules and agriculture as a World Trade Organization meeting in Doha entered a crucial last stretch. As delegates reported a near-deal on developing countries' access to medicines, WTO director general Mike Moore urged participants to start preparing to "give and take" on plans to launch a new global trade round. "We are close but there are still areas of substantial differences," Moore told reporters. WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said ministers and their aides were rolling up their sleeves to thrash out an accord before midnight on Nov 13, the deadline for ending the meeting. But he said apart from the drugs patent issue, little progress had been made on questions covering speedier liberalization of textile quotas, phasing out of European farm subsidies and demands from developing countries, Japan and Korea for changes in WTO rules on punishing the dumping of goods. The problem was that countries were linking concessions made in one area to those in other unrelated sectors, Rockwell said. The deal on drugs was still being opposed by India. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011115 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Creditors to bridge $3.2bn financing gap ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: Pakistan's $3.2 billion financing gap for 2001- 2002 will be jointly bridged by the IMF-led bilateral and multilateral creditors and a decision in this respect is expected to be taken by the Fund's executive board in the first week of December. Pakistan has been assured by the United States that its $8 billion financing gap during the next three year period will be met by bilateral and multilateral donors, official sources told Dawn. Pakistan was told that since it offered necessary support to US-led coalition to fight against terrorism, Islamabad's short- and long- term financial requirements will be adequately met. And in the first place, Pakistan's current year $3.2 billion financing gap will be filled to ease pressure on its balance of payment position. The IMF's new Senior Representative in Pakistan Mr Henri Ghesquiere, when contacted, confirmed to Dawn that Fund's executive board was meeting in Washington on Dec 5 or 6 to discuss and approve Pakistan's estimated $3.2 billion financing gap for the current financial year. "Pakistan's economic and financial needs are required to be met and its case for approval of $3.2 billion financing gap for the current fiscal is bright," he said. He pointed out that IMF and other bilateral and multilateral donors were greatly encouraged by the successful completion of the 10-month Standby Arrangement (SBA). "The executive board of the IMF has been encouraged to see good economic performance shown by Pakistan under SBA programme," he added. "Pakistan has a good argument for trying to persuade the creditors for a certain extent of debt forgiveness." Mr Ghesquiere said that Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF) will also come up for discussion by the board. However, he made it clear that nothing could be said about the size of the new lending program. But he said that new lending program will be concessional one to help improve the economy of the country. Pakistan, he said, was so indebted that it needed to be offered new loans on maximum 0.5 per cent interest rate. Official sources said that $3.2 billion financing gap was likely to include $700 million loans to be restructured by the Paris Club for the current financial year. The Club was expected to meet immediately after IMF executive board's meeting. Sources said that while the IMF, Paris Club and other bilateral and multilateral donors were working out details to offer substantial assistance to Pakistan, they wanted improvements in various sectors. For example, they were of the view that issues like corruption, good governance, transparency and provisions for more funding for health and education sectors were needed to be taken seriously by the government. The United States has just promised $1 billion assistance of which $600 million will be in the shape of budgetary support. Also, Pakistan was promised market access in the United States and a better financial package by the IMF, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other bilateral creditors. Washington had also approved $600 million cash grant for Pakistan but so far nothing has flowed into the kitty. Earlier, the UK had written off Pakistan's $40 million loans while Canada converted its $300 million debt into social sector funding through a swap. European Union (EU) had also offered additional market access which according to the officials concerned was likely to provide $400 million additional relief during the current financial year. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011115 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Norway doubles annual assistance ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: Norway has doubled its annual assistance program to Pakistan from Norwegian Kronnas 33 million to 66 million. This was disclosed by Ms Hilde Frafjord Johnson, minister for international development of Norway in a meeting with Shaukat Aziz. The Norwegian minister expressed satisfaction over the financial management of Pakistan and successful completion of IMF program. She said that the Pakistan government has introduced financial discipline which has emboldened confidence of the international community in the financial health of the country. Ms Hilde Frafjord Johnson further committed Norwegian government's support to Pakistan in the Paris Club for debt swaps. The bilateral Norwegian debt is around US$50 million. Norway, she further disclosed has unfrozen assistance. Now it would continue to flow in Pakistan uninterrupted and will grow steadily with the passage of time.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011117 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Index gains 9.11 points as brisk trading continues ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Nov 16: The KSE-100 index gained another 9.11 points to close at 1,380.71 points. Key market heavy weights like PTCL had announced strong results and lately the Sui twins had surprised investors with dividend announcements after nine blank years. The other major reason that had buoyed sentiments at the market enabling it to breach the 1,375 key level. The mounting of Pakistan's liquid foreign exchange reserves to $3.62 billion as of November 10 and the reduction in prices of all petroleum products, including the HSD and Motor Gasoline, were also encouraging to investors. In the heat of the moment, not much notice was taken of the World Bank's forecast of Pakistan's GDP growth to just 3 per cent for the current year and Rs6.6 billion shortfall in revenue receipts for the first four months (July-October) of the current year; actual collections being Rs110.7 billion against the target of Rs117.3 billion. But for all that, many analysts are hinting at resistance once the index touches the 1400 level, albeit some stock traders, including those at First Capital suggest the downside could be limited. "Technical indicators i.e. Momentum and RSI are showing positive trend", First Capital said on Friday morning. Volume of business on Friday hit 122 million shares, up from 98 million shares a day earlier. Among the 174 total actives; the ratio of plus to minus was 2:1. The pharmaceutical firm, Wyeth Pakistan, posted the day's biggest gain of Rs45 with the stock closing at Rs295. It was followed by Bhanero Textile up Rs5 to Rs65. Among the largest losers for the day were Colgate Pakistan, down Rs4.90 to Rs93.60 and Shell Pakistan lower by Rs3.90 to Rs180.10. Hub Power Company gained another 45 paisa to close at Rs19.60 with the largest volume of 46.259 million shares. PTCL was the second most traded scrip, posting 20 paisa gain to end the day at Rs18.10 on 30.945 million shares. Sui Northern was down 5 paisa to Rs11.70 on 8.659 million shares, the stock shedding a bit of the gains made earlier on distribution of dividend. ICI posted an increase of Rs1.45 to Rs47.25 on 8.112 million shares. Fauji Fertiliser saw trading in 4.351 million shares, which finished at the last close of Rs41.40. MCB was down 10 paisa to Rs23.80 on a business in 2.949 million shares. Nishat Mills was up 10 paisa to Rs16.60 on 2.739 million shares; D.G. Khan Cement gained 60 paisa to Rs6.35 on 2.725 million shares. FUTURE CONTRACTS: On the Futures counter nine scrip came up for trading with 6 in the plus and 3 in minus. Hub Power was the volume leader again with 1.770 million shares finishing up 45 paisa to Rs19.70. PTCL gained 20 paisa to close at Rs18.15 with business in 0.779 million shares; Engro Chemicals closed flat at Rs55.80 with 0.083 million shares; Sui Northern Gas also closed unchanged at Rs11.80 on 0.063 million shares and the oil marketing company, PSO, was up 25 paisa to Rs93.25 on 0.059 million shares. DIVIDEND: Trust Modaraba omitted payout for the year ended June 30, 2001; Good Luck Industries proposed dividend at 20 per cent and Karam Ceramics recommended dividend at 15 per cent. The Board of Directors of Metropolitan Life Assurance Co resolved to pay 5 per cent dividend to minority shareholders through injection of funds into the company by the sponsor directors as interest free loan subject to approval of SECP.Back to the top
EDITORIALS & FEATURES
20011111
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Homegrown terrorism
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By Ardeshir Cowasjee
Since I wrote last week, Bagh-i-Rustom has lost its illustrious
neighbours. The consulate-general of the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan with its huge mosque and its adjacent comfortable
living quarters lies sealed and shut.
The consulate itself is quite incongruous with what we are told
about the poor Taliban who have no money for their country or for
their people - its floors and walls are of marble imported from
Afghanistan. As it is with our country, one must suppose, the
Afghan people starve and shiver whilst the rulers dwell in halls of
marble.
The last conversation with Consul-General Maulvi Rahmatullah
Kakazada was memorable. "We are warriors of God and Islam" he told
me. "But," I responded, "He neither enlists nor recruits armies and
does not believe in conscription. He does not command anyone to go
to war, to kill in His name, or to be killed in His name. He tells
us that life is His gift to us, to be lived to the full, and to do
as much good as we can whilst in this world."
His response : "Well, if I go on jihad and fight and die in the
name of Islam I know I will go straight to heaven. Otherwise, if I
do not, I can live my life doing what I can without knowing whether
I will ever get there or not." "You might get a safe passage, but
what about your wife and children and other dependents?" I asked.
"No problem," he said, "my wife and children will be looked after.
They will mourn for three days and on the fourth day, because of my
good deeds, my wife will find a better husband and my children a
better protector."
This sound madrassah logic is what George Bush is waging war
against with his bombs. Kakazada's parting request: "Our brothers
across the Gulf have sent us 80 tonnes of dates in six containers
which arrived at Karachi port on July 25 on one of our brothers'
vessels, the Al-Manakh. We are unable to clear the consignment for
want of funds. Can you help me get the port charges and demurrage
waived and somehow arrange to have the dates sent to Afghanistan
for our starving people?"
Marble - demurrage ?
All that could be done, I told him, was to seek help from one of
the Taliban godfathers, General Javed Ashraf Qazi , a former chief
of ISI and now our minister for ports and (no) shipping.. Could
someone reading this in Islamabad bring the matter of Kakazada's
plight to the notice of the able communications general. Some
150,000 lbs of dates will sustain many a life for many a day.
One advantage of Bush's war, so far, has been that our homegrown
terrorists are creeping out of the woodwork and making conciliatory
noises. They know that an act of terrorism is a criminal offence to
which the statute of limitation does not apply. It is amusing to
now hear all, repeat all, our past political stalwarts who have
actively and knowingly committed or aided and abetted acts of
terrorism.
A PPP - obviously uneducated - former minister, Manzoor Hussain
Wassan, chosen by our freely and fairly elected democratic prime
minister Benazir Bhutto in 1989 to be her minister for transport in
her own province of Sindh, once terrorized the secretary of his
ministry. Zubair Kidwai, operated strictly and correctly by law and
procedure, and when overruled by the minister in his own and his
party's interest, made no objections.
But Wassan was not content with merely overruling Kidwai ; he
wanted him to put his signature to the flouting of the law. This
Kidwai did object to. So, the minister summoned his secretary and
the managing-director of the Karachi Transport Corporation. They
arrived in his conference room into which then entered the minister
accompanied by two personal armed guards, his private secretary and
a peon. One gunman was posted by the door, and the other at the
seated Kidwai's back.
Wassan berated Kidwai for failing to carry out his orders, be they
illegal or legal, and assured him that he had 'other means' to use
to get things done in his department according to his wishes and
desires. Shouting, he told them that rules and regulations were for
the birds, as was any reference to the chief minister. Wassan made
it quite clear to Kidwai, with the gunman behind him, that he knew
how to get officers such as he to perform, and using his own
particular methods would ensure that he and the KTC MD were not
transferred and were forced to carry out his orders blindly.
When Kidwai asked him politely not to shout he was told to 'shut
up'. When he then rose from his chair and asked if he could leave
the room, the man at his back with one hand poked him with his gun
barrel, with the other pushed him down by the shoulder, and told
him to remain seated. Wassan continued his tirade by informing
Kidwai that he knew that even if transferred, Kidwai and his family
would remain in Karachi and that Wassan had ways of 'fixing' (a
favourite PPP word) them even when out of his ministry. Kidwai was
then told to 'get out'.
Now, after eleven years, Wassan writes a letter to Dawn ('PPP
leader's version', October 31) and asks for proof of what he did.
The matter is on record at the Sindh secretariat and all Wassan has
to do is to refer to a note written by the then chief secretary,
Abdul Karim Lodhi, to the PPP chief minister, Aftab Shahban Mirani.
Will this satisfy him?
Lodhi asked Mirani to immediately issue notice to his ministers and
other party members, instructing them "....that no one shall cause
fire arms or any other weapons to be carried into the office rooms.
If anybody does so, from now onwards, Sir, with due respect, one
will have to order the physical removal from the secretariat of
both the minister and his companions bearing arms. The government
has provided adequate police security in the secretariat. If that
is not considered enough by anybody, it cannot be supplemented by
ruffians....
"Now, reverting to the ugly incident, Sir, it so happens that both
the affected officers have a known reputation for uprightness,
competence and integrity. One wonders if anything similar can be
used to describe the errant minister..... Mr Manzoor Wassan should
personally apologize to both officers, preferably in the presence
of his private secretary and the two guards (of course, minus their
weapons)......".
Before Mrs Nasreen Jalil, the resident chief of the MQM, jumps the
gun and writes a letter to the press, for her information and
according to police records, there are 260 criminal cases, many
involving acts of terrorism, pending/decided here in Pakistan
against her party chief Altaf Hussain, who fled the country and is
now in residence in London with a British passport in his pocket.
In one case, FIR 211/91 of 24/6/91, filed by Major Kalimuddin in
Landhi police station, Altaf Bhai and six others were awarded 27
years RI by the special terrorist court. Tony Blair has given him
asylum and by making him a British citizen has afforded him
protection. But brother Altaf should realize that Blair is a far
cry from Palmerston.
If this newspaper is to be believed, the PPP and General Pervez
Musharraf's government are very close to finalizing a deal (front
page report, November 9). Asif Zardari is in custody facing four
cases involving terrorism and murder.
Terrorism will not be eliminated in Pakistan as long as our
politicians and the vast majority of the people remain uneducated
and bigoted. However, in the meantime, will someone - the
honourable minister, the United Nations chief in the country, the
ambassador of the US, or some other good man of God save Kakazada's
dates. They are rotting, or sprouting roots, in their containers at
Karachi.
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20011112
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Why bomb civilians?
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By Eric S. Margolis
The 21st century went to war against the 11th Century in
Afghanistan last week. The 11th century won.
US warplanes cluster-bombed the usual natives, but the intensive
air attacks failed to dislodge Taliban tribal warriors from
positions north of Kabul.
Osama bin Laden was not found. Hundreds of Afghan civilians were
killed by off-target American bombs. The Red Cross in Kabul was hit
for a second time. US aircraft attempted to assassinate Mulla Omar,
Taliban's leader, but failed and killed his young son and two
brothers. A major, 100-man US commando raid was a failure. Taliban
very likely shot down a US helicopter.
Mass defections from Taliban predicted by Washington's 'experts,
didn't happen. Afghans flocked to join Taliban. Thousands of Pahtun
tribesmen from Pakistan crossed into Afghanistan over the fabled
Malakand Pass to fight the American invaders.
In this same region during the early 20th century, British colonial
troops battled two notorious Islamic devils, the Osama bin Ladens
of their day: the ferocious but elusive Fakir of Ipi, and that
scourge of Victorian imperialism, the 'Mad Mullah,' who led 20,000
wild Pashtun holy warriors down the Malakand to drive the infidel
'farangi' from Peshawar and the lands of Islam. Peshawar was only
saved by British warplanes and artillery.
America's new Afghan allies, the Northern Alliance, a motley,
Russian-created force of former communists, opium dealers, bandits,
and unwarlike tribesmen, struck ferocious poses for gullible
western TV teams, but failed to advance an inch. Meanwhile, the US
bombing of Afghanistan's main cities created many thousands more
refugees at a time when four million Afghans are starving.
Not exactly a proud week for American arms. Operation Ultimate
Hubris was off to a poor start.
At the Pentagon, spokesman Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem admitted
with exasperation that Taliban "are proving to be tough warriors."
Arrogance and ignorance are a deadly combination. Unfortunately,
they are often hallmarks of US foreign policy. The Pentagon brass
and President George Bush should have read a book about Afghanistan
before launching a war against a fierce nation about which few in
Washington know anything.
Blinded by rage and the need to avenge the frightful crimes
committed on September 11, the US charged into Afghanistan with no
plan of action, and no exit strategy. Washington has every right to
bring terrorists to justice through police and intelligence
operations. But not to launch a general war against Afghans who had
nothing to do with attacks on America.
Who will replace Taliban? The Northern Alliance's Uzbeks, Tajiks,
and Hazaras are feuding. When Tajik forces last ruled Kabul, they
battled Uzbeks and Pashtuns, killed tens of thousands of civilians,
and left the city in ruins. The late Tajik warlord, dashing Ahmad
Masoud, assassinated on Sept. 9, was fawned on by the western media
and hailed as 'the lion of Panjsher.' If he was the Lion of
Panjsher, then I'm the Lion of Kabul. Masoud was hated by most non-
Tajik Afghans as a traitor and long-time collaborator with the
Soviets, Russians, and KGB. I recall vividly when he abandoned the
jihad and went over to the Soviets.
The Uzbek leader, Rashid Dostum, a former communist warlord, is a
blood-thirsty criminal, mass murderer, and Washington's new best
friend. Dostum unleashed his feared Uzbek-Mongol 'jawzjani' militia
against Kabul in an orgy of slaughter, pillage and mass rape.
Washington's main Pashtun ally, Abdul Haq, was captured by Taliban
last week and promptly executed.
To end the rapine and chaos, Pakistani intelligence helped create a
force of religious seminarians, or Talibs, many of them orphans
left from the struggle against Soviet occupation that killed 1.5
million Afghans. Taliban defeated the Northern Alliance and brought
order - albeit a harsh, medieval order, to Afghanistan - but a
traditional tribal order no different from the rest of Afghanistan,
and many parts of Iran, Pakistan, and rural India.
Taliban will probably be driven from Kabul. But Taliban represents
Pashtuns, half the nation's population. The Talibs vow to fight
from the mountains, and I certainly believe them. Who will keep a
pro-US, pro-Russian regime in power in Kabul? American troops will
likely be required. How will the American garrison be supplied?
Just like the imperial British invaders, who were twice defeated by
the Afghans, US forces will have to rely on vulnerable land supply
lines at great distances from their depots that cross narrow
mountain passes.
The other alternative, air supply of an American garrison in Kabul,
is a recipe for a Dienbienphu-like disaster. The Soviet Red Army
tried everything from carpet bombing to poison gas and biological
warfare to break the Afghans, but failed. Soviet garrisons were
isolated and chewed up, one by one. I was in the field with Pashtun
warriors who were so poor they could not afford shoes. These
Mujahideen walked barefoot ten miles through deep mountain snow
with 100 lbs of mortar shells on their backs, fired them at a
Soviet base, and trekked back under air attack.I suggest the good
Adm. Stuffelbeam go read Kipling's warning to British troops trying
to fight their way through ferocious Afridi tribesmen guarding the
Khyber Pass: "Save your last bullet for yourself."
As it becomes increasingly evident the Sept 11 attacks were planned
in Egypt and Germany, and delivered by Saudis, America's laying of
fire and sword on Afghanistan makes less and less sense. The US
should declare victory and decamp from Afghanistan, Pakistan and
Central Asia before it gets stuck in an aimless, endless war.-
Copyright Eric S. Margolis 2001
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20011116
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Pakistan's red carpet fraying at the edges
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By Ayaz Amir
The rout of the Taliban and the fall of Kabul to the Northern
Alliance has demolished a few cherished myths and put a sudden
circle around Pakistan's importance as a staging post for the
American war on Afghanistan.
Far from Afghanistan turning into a Vietnam for the United States,
US military strategy there stands resoundingly vindicated. No
argument being more powerful than success or victory, the Taliban
rout which began from the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif and soon spread to
Kabul lays to rest all the doubts raised in the last week or so
about the effectiveness of the American approach to the war.
Now of course all the pundits will say that they had seen what was
coming. But this would be wisdom after the event. Only a few days
ago such a swift Taliban collapse was not anticipated. Nor is this
a regrouping or tactical withdrawal for a wider guerilla war. This
line in consolation hardly fits the facts on the ground.
The truth is the Taliban have been beaten. The truth also is that
the American military doctrine, first crafted during the Gulf War,
and much later re-tested in Serbia, has come out on top again. The
two key principles of this doctrine are: (1) strike from the air
and avoid a ground war - unless of course your enemy has been
reduced to pulp; and (2) always choose an enemy who cannot hit
back. It's like a heavyweight always choosing featherweight
opponents. Not much chance of the heavyweight ever being beaten.
*From the application of this doctrine, however, another lesson also
flows: featherweights should not go out of their way to pick fights
beyond their class. If there is no chivalry in taking out and
slamming weak opponents - and then taking credit for one's military
prowess - there is no wisdom in quixotic gallantry. Let the next
Saddam Hussein, Milosevic or Mulla Omar remember this.
A thought might be spared though for Pakistan's predicament. Having
gone out on a limb to support the American war effort, it should
have been happy at coming out on the right side of victory. But
with the Northern Alliance entering Kabul, thus confirming one of
the ISI's worst nightmares, the mood in Islamabad is anything but
celebratory.
Overestimating our importance (a weakness to which we are ever
prone), we had convinced ourselves that our frontline status gave
us a virtual veto over the shape of things to come in Afghanistan.
If not that, then at least our objections regarding the Northern
Alliance would be respected.
We forgot that the Americans were working to a different deadline.
They wanted visible gains on the ground to offset growing criticism
that the war was going nowhere. If for this they had needed the
devil, they would have used him. Now that events have moved too
fast for our calculations, and the Taliban have proved less
stubborn in resistance than the gathering mythology about their
hardihood had led many armchair strategists to believe, Pakistan is
reduced to delivering dire warnings of further strife in
Afghanistan.
Let us express our fears by all means. But with no leverage to back
up our warnings, we only underline our impotence by crying out loud
about something not in our power to change. Indeed our petulance on
this score makes it appear as if it is we who have been defeated
rather than the Taliban.
At the root of our distress lies our strange obsession with
Afghanistan. For full 20 years we have meddled in its affairs in
pursuit of the elusive dream of 'strategic depth' and a permanently
friendly regime in that country. The turnaround in our Afghan
policy forced upon us by the events of September 11 should have
cured us of this delusion. But as the anguished hand-wringing in
Islamabad clearly shows, old habits die hard.
Why don't we leave Afghanistan alone? Geography dictated Pakistan's
importance for the US attacks on Afghanistan. Geography dictates a
working relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan, no matter
what regime - communist, Taliban, Tajik or Hazara - holds sway
there. Why shouldn't we be content with this? Why should we insist
on playing the role of king-maker in a land which has made nonsense
of all our attempts at dictation?
After September 11 many Americans asked why the US was so hated in
parts of the Muslim world. We should ask ourselves why we have come
to be so hated by the Afghans. Too much interference is not a good
thing.
We need to get our thinking right on a whole range of issues. We
magnified the importance of our role in Afghanistan in the 1980s
and there is a danger we may have done so again. We were vital for
the Americans from the moment preparations for a strike on
Afghanistan began until the moment Kabul fell on November 13 - two
heady months during which Pakistan was the centre of global
attention and General Musharraf the most sought-after leader in the
world. But with the military situation having dramatically changed,
Pakistan's importance as a front-line state has also rapidly
altered. Our airspace and bases were crucial before November 13.
Now the Americans have a whole range of other options.
Whether we played our cards as deftly as we might have is now a
lost debate. It is worth recalling, however, that Hosni Mubarak of
Egypt got loans worth 9 billion dollars written off during the Gulf
war. We have got much less for our pains. In the days and months
ahead we will have plenty of time to judge whether by showing more
resolve we could have struck a better deal. But this is water under
the bridge. We will not get the dollars we imagined or secure the
debt write-offs we thought would lighten our economic burden. Even
so, other, and perhaps more important, opportunities beckon whose
existence only blind foolishness can ignore.
For 20 years - that is, since Ziaul Haq's time - Pakistan has been
in the grip of state fundamentalism: a mindset manifested in (1)
our pursuit of nuclear status; (2) our obsession with Afghanistan;
and (3) our attitude to Kashmir. At the altar of these sacred
shibboleths all other aspects of national life, including democracy
and sound economics, have been sacrificed.
It is instructive to recall that when justifying Pakistan's joining
the US war effort, among the four reasons General Musharraf cited,
two related to protecting the Kashmir cause and our 'nuclear
assets', the irony no doubt being lost on him that supposedly our
greatest strength had turned in a moment of danger into our biggest
weakness.
At long last we have a chance to give Pakistan a new direction so
that it looks ahead instead of back. We have a chance to cure the
Pakistani state of its delusions of persecution and grandeur. The
world is not out to get us (persecution). Nor are we a fortress of
Islam destined to fulfil messianic dreams (grandeur).
This does not mean we resile from our stand on Kashmir. But we must
recognize that after Afghanistan the freedom struggle in Kashmir is
bound to come under greater American scrutiny. In the new global
climate now forming there will be less patience for such extra-
territorial organizations as Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Muhammad.
We do not even have the courage of Lebanon - a country onefortieth
our size - which has firmly told the US that there is no question
of blocking the funds of Hezbollah and Amal because both are
engaged in a legitimate resistance struggle. So how best to support
the Kashmir cause? By letting the Kashmiris carry on their own
struggle or by raising the flag of militancy within Pakistan?
Sooner rather that later we will have to answer this question.
But let's not kid ourselves. Pakistan will not change direction
unless the army redefines its national role. If it insists on the
driver's seat, and if every now and then half-baked nostrums of
reform are thrust down the nation's throat, Pakistan will know
neither stability nor progress. Our last Afghan involvement forged
an alliance between the army and the most reactionary sections of
Pakistani society. Out of the chaos and confusion of the present
involvement must arise a new partnership between the army and
democracy if we are to say we have gained anything from this
experience.
But if General Musharraf, on whose shoulders so much rests, sticks
to that doctored version of democracy a glimpse of which he
provided to NBC TV - 'that elections will be held but I will remain
president' - then the question arises whether Pakistan is at all
capable of learning from its mistakes.
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20011117
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Zero-sum games people play
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By Irfan Husain
I often get e-mails from Indian readers complaining of what they
perceive as a preoccupation with India in the Pakistani press. "Why
can't your papers get over your anti-India fixation?" they ask.
Having just returned after a stimulating week in Delhi, I can
safely inform them that this Pakistani hang-up is mirrored in
India. Regular readers of this column will know that I have no axe
to grind, no line to peddle; above all, I am not rabidly against
things Indian. However, I was struck by how much space is devoted
to Pakistan, and, considering how little coverage was given to
world affairs by even serious papers like The Times of India and
The Hindu, the imbalance was even more surprising.
In particular, the concern about Pakistan cashing in on the Afghan
crisis while India was left out verged on the hysterical. Although
The Times of India carried an excellent editorial questioning the
Indian governments' ardent desire to jump on to the anti-terrorist
bandwagon, the news slant made it clear that the Pakistani edge in
the current situation does not sit well with thinking Indians. Many
Indian journalists contrast what they perceive as General
Musharaf's brilliant footwork in capitalizing financially and
diplomatically on Pakistan's proximity to Afghanistan during his
trip to America with Mr Vajpayee's wooden performance there.
Above all, it is Kashmir that is the touchstone by which diplomatic
success or failure is measured. During my week in India, each word
uttered by Bush and Blair was analysed carefully for any pro-
Pakistan tilt. By the time Musharraf returned to Islamabad, there
was an almost audible sigh of relief that, while the Pakistani
leader might have brought back pledges of over a billion dollars
with the possibility of more to follow, he had not managed to budge
the American president on his hands-off policy on Kashmir.
On Afghanistan, there was a palpable air of self-congratulation
over Pakistan's isolation in its efforts to induct 'moderate
Taliban' in the new government in Kabul. I personally feel this
attempt is doomed to failure, given that the taliban are now
history (the Lord be thanked!). In any case, a 'moderate Taliban'
is a contradiction in terms. But the glee evident in the Indian
press over Pakistan's desperate efforts to have a major say in the
post-Taliban dispensation was slightly nauseating.
For our part, we are certainly no better: every Indian reversal in
any field is welcomed in our papers, while any success is met with
ill-concealed envy. But it must be said that Pakistan has greater
justification (if such puerile behaviour can be justified) for this
fixation than India. After all, as the far smaller and weaker
nation, we can perhaps be forgiven for our paranoia and our
insecurity. But what excuse does India have? In my many discussions
with Indian journalists and politicians, I made the point that,
given their preponderance in just about every field, they could
have afforded to take unilateral steps aimed at removing Pakistani
suspicions and doubts.
Indeed, Indian pressure from 1948 onwards is partly to blame for
the militarization of Pakistan, as the nascent state depended on
western aid and our army to shield us from perceived Indian
belligerence. The perception that the armed forces were our
ultimate saviours made it possible for our generals to intervene at
will, thus warping and deforming political development in Pakistan.
As a result of this mindless rivalry, we are now locked in a zero-
sum game in which both countries are forever trying to score points
off each other, as the rest of the world races ahead, sniggering
quietly while we indulge in schoolboy scraps. One nation's gain
translates automatically into the other's loss and vice versa. In
this unending rivalry, the only losers are the people on both
sides, while their leaders use each other as scapegoats for their
own failures. Indeed, had Kashmir not divided us, we would have
probably invented some other cause to squabble over because, given
the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the leadership in New
Delhi and Islamabad, we can be pretty sure they would have been
unable to solve the many pressing problems that beset both nations.
Leaders on both sides need a convenient excuse to deflect criticism
for their ineptitude.
But if our leaders display their immaturity and their lack of
vision and imagination, why does the press pander to them? As
journalists, surely our job is to deflate them and hold up a mirror
to their many imperfections. However, during my all-too-brief
sojourn in Delhi, I was struck and disturbed by the solid consensus
in the press behind core government policies and positions. While I
had noticed this phenomenon on private Indian TV channels, I was
taken aback to see it on display in the mainstream newspapers as
well. Whatever my Indian readers might say about the Pakistani
preoccupation with India, these columns (as well as those in other
newspapers here) are full of articles and editorials that question
and criticize many fundamental government positions ranging from
Kashmir to the nuclear program.
When General Musharraf expressed his annoyance at criticism in the
Pakistani press, saying that this did not happen to the same extent
in India, I thought he was exaggerating. But after my week-long
scrutiny of Indian newspapers, I fear that he was not wide of the
mark. When I discussed my perceptions with like-minded Indian
journalists, they ascribed this malaise in the Indian print media
to the price-war that has forced owners and editors to focus
primarily on the bottom line: for instance, comment on the op-ed
pages has been curtailed for reasons of ads. In Pakistan, there are
mercifully no commercial announcements on these pages in this or
any other paper. As a result, The Times of India sells for Rs 1.50.
But this low price has meant that there is no editor of the paper,
and nor are there any book reviews as the owners feel that the
space could be put to more productive use by selling it to
advertisers.
Despite the commercialization of many venerable Indian newspapers,
many bright and talented journalists are fighting to preserve their
integrity. Unfortunately, the policy of preventing Indian papers
and periodicals from selling in Pakistan and vice versa has
deprived us of gaining an insight into each other's thinking.
Although the Internet has made it possible to bridge this gap, most
journalists on both sides do not log on as often as they ought to.
Meanwhile, our leaders continue to let us and themselves down
through their futile rivalry.
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS
20011117
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Terrorism is the symptom, not the disease
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By Arundhati Roy
In 1979, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the CIA and
Pakistan's ISI launched the largest covert operation in the history
of the CIA. Their purpose was to harness the energy of Afghan
resistance to the Soviets and expand it into a holy war, an Islamic
jihad, which would turn Muslim countries within the Soviet Union
against the communist regime and eventually destabilize it.
When it began, it was meant to be the Soviet Union's Vietnam. It
turned out to be much more than that.
Over the years, through the ISI, the CIA funded and recruited
almost 100,000 radical Mujahideen from 40 Islamic countries as
soldiers for America's proxy war. The rank and file of the
Mujahideen were unaware that their jihad was actually being fought
on behalf of Uncle Sam. (The irony is that America was equally
unaware that it was financing a future war against itself.)
In 1989, after being bloodied by 10 years of relentless conflict,
the Russians withdrew, leaving behind a civilization reduced to
rubble. Civil war in Afghanistan raged on. The jihad spread to
Chechnya, Kosovo and eventually to Kashmir. The CIA continued to
pour in money and military equipment, but the overheads had become
immense, and more money was needed.
The Mujahideen ordered farmers to plant opium as a "revolutionary
tax". The ISI set up hundreds of heroin laboratories across
Afghanistan. Within two years of the CIA's arrival, the Pakistan-
Afghanistan borderland had become the biggest producer of heroin in
the world, and the single biggest source of the heroin on American
streets. The annual profits, said to be between $100bn and $200bn,
were ploughed back into training and arming militants.
In 1995, the Taliban - then a marginal sect of dangerous, hard-line
fundamentalists - fought its way to power in Afghanistan. It was
funded by the ISI, that old cohort of the CIA, and supported by
many political parties in Pakistan. The Taliban unleashed a regime
of terror. Its first victims were its own people, particularly
women. It closed down girls' schools, dismissed women from
government jobs, and enforced sharia laws under which women deemed
to be "immoral" are stoned to death, and widows guilty of being
adulterous are buried alive. After all that has happened, can there
be anything more ironic than Russia and America joining hands to
re-destroy Afghanistan? The question is, can you destroy
destruction? Dropping more bombs on Afghanistan will only shuffle
the rubble, scramble some old graves and disturb the dead. The
desolate landscape of Afghanistan was the burial ground of Soviet
communism and the springboard of a unipolar world dominated by
America. It made the space for neocapitalism and corporate
globalization, again dominated by America. And now Afghanistan is
poised to become the graveyard for the unlikely soldiers who fought
and won this war for America.
And what of America's trusted ally? Pakistan too has suffered
enormously. The US government has not been shy of supporting
military dictators who have blocked the idea of democracy from
taking root in the country. Before the CIA arrived, there was a
small rural market for opium in Pakistan. Between 1979 and 1985,
the number of heroin addicts grew from zero to one-and-a-half
million.
Now the US government is asking (asking?) Pakistan to garotte the
pet it has hand-reared in its backyard for so many years. President
Musharraf, having pledged his support to the US, could well find he
has something resembling civil war on his hands. India, thanks in
part to its geography, and in part to the vision of its former
leaders, has so far been fortunate enough to be left out of this
Great Game. Had it been drawn in, it's more than likely that our
democracy, such as it is, would not have survived.
Today, as some of us watch in horror, the Indian government is
furiously gyrating its hips, begging the US to set up its base in
India rather than Pakistan. Having had this ringside view of
Pakistan's sordid fate, it isn't just odd, it's unthinkable, that
India should want to do this. Any Third World country with a
fragile economy and a complex social base should know by now that
to invite a superpower such as America in (whether it says it's
staying or just passing through) would be like inviting a brick to
drop through your windscreen.
Operation Enduring Freedom is ostensibly being fought to uphold the
American Way of Life. It'll probably end up undermining it
completely. It will spawn more anger and more terror across the
world. For ordinary people in America, it will mean lives lived in
a climate of sickening uncertainty: will my child be safe in
school? Will there be nerve gas in the subway? A bomb in the cinema
hall? Will my love come home tonight? There have been warnings
about the possibility of biological warfare - smallpox, bubonic
plague, anthrax - the deadly payload of innocuous crop-duster
aircraft.
Being picked off a few at a time may end up being worse than being
annihilated all at once by a nuclear bomb. The US government, and
no doubt governments all over the world, will use the climate of
war as an excuse to curtail civil liberties, deny free speech, lay
off workers, harass ethnic and religious minorities, cut back on
public spending and divert huge amounts of money to the defence
industry. To what purpose? President Bush can no more "rid the
world of evil-doers" than he can stock it with saints.
It's absurd for the US government to even toy with the notion that
it can stamp out terrorism with more violence and oppression.
Terrorism is the symptom, not the disease. Terrorism has no
country. It's transnational, as global an enterprise as Coke or
Pepsi or Nike. At the first sign of trouble, terrorists can pull up
stakes and move their "factories" from country to country in search
of a better deal. Just like the multinationals.
Terrorism as a phenomenon may never go away. But if it is to be
contained, the first step is for America to at least acknowledge
that it shares the planet with other nations, with other human
beings who, even if they are not on TV, have loves and griefs and
stories and songs and sorrows and, for heaven's sake, rights.
Instead, when Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, was asked
what he would call a victory in America's new war, he said that if
he could convince the world that Americans must be allowed to
continue with their way of life, he would consider it a victory.
The September 11 attacks were a monstrous calling card from a world
gone horribly wrong. The message may have been written by bin Laden
(who knows?) and delivered by his couriers, but it could well have
been signed by the ghosts of the victims of America's old wars. The
millions killed in Korea, Vietnam and Cambodia, the 17,500 killed
when Israel - backed by the US - invaded Lebanon in 1982, the
200,000 Iraqis killed in Operation Desert Storm, the thousands of
Palestinians who have died fighting Israel's occupation of the West
Bank. And the millions who died, in Yugoslavia, Somalia, Haiti,
Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Panama, at
the hands of all the terrorists, dictators and genocidists whom the
American government supported, trained, bankrolled and supplied
with arms. And this is far from being a comprehensive list.
Someone recently said that if Osama bin Laden didn't exist, America
would have had to invent him. But, in a way, America did invent
him. He was among the jihadis who moved to Afghanistan in 1979 when
the CIA commenced its operations there. Bin Laden has the
distinction of being created by the CIA and wanted by the FBI. From
all accounts, it will be impossible to produce evidence (of the
sort that would stand scrutiny in a court of law) to link Bin Laden
to the September 11 attacks. So far, it appears that the most
incriminating piece of evidence against him is the fact that he has
not condemned them.From what is known about the location of bin
Laden and the living conditions in which he operates, it's entirely
possible that he did not personally plan and carry out the attacks
- that he is the inspirational figure.
Its marauding multinationals who are taking over the air we
breathe, the ground we stand on, the water we drink, the thoughts
we think. Now that the family secret has been spilled, the twins
are blurring into one another and gradually becoming
interchangeable. Their guns, bombs, money and drugs have been going
around in the loop for a while. (The Stinger missiles that will
greet US helicopters were supplied by the CIA. The heroin used by
America's drug addicts comes from Afghanistan. The Bush
administration recently gave Afghanistan a $43m subsidy for a "war
on drugs".)
Now Bush and Bin Laden have even begun to borrow each other's
rhetoric. Each refers to the other as "the head of the snake". Both
invoke God and use the loose millenarian currency of good and evil
as their terms of reference. Both are engaged in unequivocal
political crimes. Both are dangerously armed - one with the nuclear
arsenal of the obscenely powerful, the other with the incandescent,
destructive power of the utterly hopeless. The fireball and the ice
pick. The bludgeon and the axe. The important thing to keep in mind
is that neither is an acceptable alternative to the other.
President Bush's ultimatum to the people of the world - "If you're
not with us, you're against us" - is a piece of presumptuous
arrogance. It's not a choice that people want to, need to, or
should have to make. Copyright Arundhati Roy, 2001.-Dawn/Guardian
News Service
SPORTS 20011111 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Kashif's treble keeps Pakistan medal hopes alive ------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTTERDAM, Nov 10: Pakistan beat England 6-3 in the final game of the round robin series of the Champions Trophy to earn a bronze medal play-off against the Netherlands, largely thanks to a Kashif Jawwad hat trick. Pakistan also scored three goals in the last ten minutes to earn their second victory of the event. It also gave them third place and a chance to beat fourth-placed Netherlands in the bronze medal match. Sohail Abbas put Pakistan ahead from their first corner in the 7th minute with a low flick but England, who had to win to make the bronze medal match in place of Pakistan, recovered to go ahead with goals by Mark Pearn and Jon Wyatt (penalty corner). Despite England having the better of the first half, Pakistan levelled to 2-2 in the last minute of the half when Abbas threw a long high ball which England failed to control allowing Jawwad to nip in and score. Abbas rubbed it in by converting Pakistan's second corner two minutes into the second half, his seven goals making him the tournament's second highest scorer, one behind Germany's Kunz. A smartly taken goal by England captain Danny Hall made it 3-3 after 53 minutes and England pressed hard for a fourth goal but failed to convert from a string of corners. With England pressing, Pakistan were at last able to counter-attack and they added open play goals with good finishing by Jawwad, Muhammad Nadeem and, in the 69th minute, Jawwad again. -AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011111 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan win all three matches in Pool B ------------------------------------------------------------------- Monitoring Desk HONG KONG, Nov 10: Pakistan made it three wins out of three and Aussies slumped to their third loss in succession in the Pool 'B' of Hong Kong Cricket Sixes 2001 at Kowloon Cricket Club. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first and did well to break the record in the Hong Kong sixes tournament. Pakistan scored 115 for two off their alloted 5 overs. Craig McDermott cleaned up Wasim Akram after the Pakistani all-rounder had hit a six over covers. Shahid Afridi (10) was caught behind by Kim Hughes off the bowling of Tom Moody. Imran Nazir retired not out 32 struck four sixes and a boundary, facing just 10 balls. Shoaib Malik struck three sixes and three fours in scoring 31 runs off seven balls before retiring not out. Razzaq made an unbeaten 21 off seven balls with the help of a six and three fours to take Pakistan to the record total of 115 off five overs. Australia were never in the run hunt, Moody and Brendon Julian opening the batting again and playing orthodox cricket, while what it takes is slogging. When Wasim Akram came in to bowl, Moody played a delightful shot to third-man for four. But Akram didn't fail to deliver, knocking out the middle stump to dismiss Julian 22 off 9 balls. After four overs Australia were 56/1 and they required an impossible 60 runs off the last over. Abdur Razzaq bowled the last over and Moody helped himself to a six over long on before retiring not out after making 31 off 16 balls. Greg Matthews and Hughes didn't do much either and played out the over. Australia finished with 69/1 after five overs and lost the match by 56 runs. Earlier, Pakistan announced their superiority by beating UAE in the first game by 29 runs with Wasim Akram smashing four consecutive sixes off Miraj Khaliq before retiring with unbeaten 33 off seven ball in his team's score of 108 for two. UAE got off to a good start, Saeed-al-Saffar striking consecutive fours off Afridi's first over. Kaif Gaury was determined to put up a fight, smashing Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan for five boundaries in the second over UAE finished on 79/2. In their first match, Pakistan beat England by two wickets with one over to spare. Batting first, England made 48/1 off five overs. Skipper Rashid Latif hit two boundaries and Abdur Razzaq struck two huge sixes as Pakistan raced past the target when Azhar Mahmood struck three consecutive fours. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011112 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan complete hat trick of titles ------------------------------------------------------------------- Monitoring Desk HONG KONG, Nov 11: Pakistan went in to Honk Kong Cricket Sixes 2001 as the hot favourites and they lived up to the top billing by winning the final against South Africa by 11 runs to complete their hat trick of titles here. Once Pakistan got things right at the toss, they piled on the runs in the five overs and they finished with a total of 98/3. Imran Nazir (30) and stand-in captain Wasim Akram (23) gave Pakistan an electrifying start. Imran struck three sixes and Akram hit two, to take their tally for the tournament to 11 sixes. Imran eventually was caught by Crookes off Thomas and Akram was brilliantly run out by Andrew Hall. Shahid Afridi threatened to take apart the bowling; he made 16 runs off just four balls and was bowled by Steve Elworthy. Azhar Mahmood hit two massive sixes, one of which cleared the ground to remained unbeaten on 13. South Africa, in reply, got off to a fantastic start scoring 26 off the first over bowled by Azhar; Elworthy smacking a six into the swimming pool. Afridi was also punished as his over cost 22 runs. At that stage, South Africa were in the hunt. But once Wasim Akram came in to bowl and things changed with yet another spectacular over (1-0-10-0). Akram's analysis for the tournament were 5-0-27-3. Loots Bosman had to retire not out (31), hitting three sixes and three boundaries. Elworthy struck some lusty shots, but his knock of 24 came to an end when he caught by Akram in the deep off Shoaib Malik. South Africa, who defeated England in their semifinal, could not keep up the pace and finished on 87/1 in five overs. Appropriately, Wasim Akram was named the Man of the Tournament for his all-round brilliance. Earlier, Akram was at his vintage best as Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 34 runs in the semifinal. Imran Nazir hit four huge sixes in making 27 off nine balls. Akram had to retire not out after making 36 off just 10 balls, smashing four sixes and two boundaries while Afridi's 20 came off seven balls as Pakistan reached 107/1. Almost all Sri Lankan bowlers suffered in the avalanche of runs, Dulip Liyanage was the most expensive (1-0-35-0). Sri Lanka were never in the run chase against a competent bowling attack. Akram bowled yet another brilliant over (1-0-4-0), which effectively choked the Sri Lankans, who managed 73/1. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011112 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan to get compensation ------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTTERDAM, Nov 11: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) will take a decision on giving financial compensation to Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) because of the shifting of the Champions Trophy from Lahore to Rotterdam. The Games ruling body will decide at its Executive Board meeting in Brussels the amount to be paid to the PHF to overcome the losses suffered from the shifting of the Trophy. "We are fully aware of all the circumstances and the losses PHF has suffered. The FIH will give a due consideration to this issue at the Executive Board meeting," FIH president, Els van Breda said here. Security concerns after the US attacks on Afghanistan had forced the FIH to shift the venue from Pakistanis city of Lahore. The Netherlands was awarded the tournament after bidding. FIH chief said we will be taking good care of Pakistan's request for compensation "The Dutch Hockey Federation officials have requested the FIH to use part of the hosting fee they are due to pay to the FIH as compensation to the Pakistan," he said. Moreover, she said, the English Hockey Federation had offered the FIH it was willing to pay the PHF the amount they had saved on account of travel expenses by travelling to Rotterdam instead of Lahore. The PHF official said there were a number of proposals for compensation including organizing a four-nation series in Pakistan in January or April next year, provided the recent situation in the region improved in the near future. England, Germany and Holland have expressed willingness to play in Pakistan and it was very encouraging response on part of these hockey nations, the official said.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011112 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Imran backs Shoaib ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Nov 11: Pakistan cricket great Imran Khan came out in support of paceman Shoiab Akhtar, who is considering taking legal action after being reported for "chucking" to the International Cricket Council (ICC). "I think Akhtar has a very good case to take to court," Khan told AFP. "He has already been cleared scientifically, so why is his action being brought into question one more time?" the former Pakistani skipper added. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia also said his board would back Akhtar, 26, if he decides to take legal action. Zia said the board would send a strongly-worded protest to the ICC, which has appointed former West Indian pacer Michael Holding to work on Akhtar's action. The ICC confirmed that umpires had reported Akhtar's action as "suspect" following the Champions Trophy tournament in Sharjah which Pakistan won last week. "Akhtar has an unusual bowling arm and it has been shown on television all over the world. The hyper-extension of his arm gives an illusion of chucking," Khan argued.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011113 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan requests ICC to form special body ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Nov 12: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to set up a special committee to deal with pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar's suspect bowling action. PCB Director Brig Munawwar Rana said a letter had been sent to the ICC requesting that any inquiry into Shoaib's bowling action be dealt as a special case. "Our point of view is very clear. We feel there is no problem at all with Shoaib's bowling action and he is not violating any cricket law," Munawwar told Reuters. "His problem lies in his peculiar physiology with respect to hyper-mobility. "What we have asked the ICC to do is appoint a sub-committee of its cricket committee which should look into this case and than make its recommendations back to the Executive Board," he added. Shoaib, 26, was reported for a suspect bowling action for the third time since December 1999 after the recent triangular tournament in Sharjah. But the PCB has made it clear that before any further steps are taken the ICC should give a clear decision on a medical report prepared on Shoaib earlier this year by the University of Western Australia's department of bio-mechanics. Munawwar said Shoaib had been put through stage one of the ICC bowling action review process and experts had declared that he did not throw the ball but had a physiological problem of hyper- mobility in the joints of his bowling arm. "The main thing is there is no capacity in the present ICC rules to deal with a special case like that of Shoaib, which is why we are asking for the sub-committee to be constituted," Rana said. The PCB has said it would support Shoaib if he resorted to the courts to try and have his controversial bowling action declared legal. But Munawwar added that although the PCB had nothing against the ICC appointing West Indian Michael Holding as bowling advisor to Shoaib, it was not appropriate at this time. "We have said in our letter that Holding is among the greats and greatly respected in the cricket world and we share that feeling for him," he said. "But we don't think at this stage his coming to Pakistan will serve any purpose." Holding is expected to visit Pakistan later this month.-Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011114 ------------------------------------------------------------------- More trouble for Shoaib ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter KARACHI, Nov 13: The controversial career of Shoaib Akhtar took yet another twist when his alleged misconduct during the Sharjah Cup final against Sri Lanka was referred to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) disciplinary committee. Television footages showed Shoaib Akhtar showing gestures to Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardena after having him caught behind. Had former captain Wasim Akram not intervened, the situation might have gone out of hand. "In view of the reports appearing in the media regarding alleged misconduct of Shoaib Akhtar at Sharjah in matches against Sri Lanka, chairman PCB has referred the matter to the PCB disciplinary committee," the PCB said in a written statement. Shoaib has been summoned before the disciplinary committee Monday. The committee is headed by Brig Iqbal Awan with Sirajul Islam Bukhari, Abdul Raqib and Maazullah as members. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011114 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PCB requests rejected ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter KARACHI, Nov 13: The International Cricket Council (ICC) rejected Pakistan's requests for dealing with paceman Shoaib Akhtar who was reported for a suspect bowling action during the Sharjah Cup. The Pakistan Cricket Board, last week, had objected to ICC's decision of implementing Stage Two when it appointed Michael Holding as Shoaib's bowling advisor. The PCB maintained that the ICC should first decide if it believed the credibility and authenticity of Australian Institute of Human Resources. The Perth-based institute, in its report, has said Shoaib's bowling arm was deformed at birth giving an illusion of throwing. The PCB had also said it was not in a position to bear the three-month expenses of Holding though the former West Indian quickie was more than welcome to the country in any other capacity. "The ICC is not reviewing its decision to appoint Michael Holding to work with Shoaib. "The cost involved with Stage Two will be at the PCB's expense," ICC's communication manager Mark Harrison said in a statement to Dawn. Shoaib was reported for the third time since December 1999 for a suspect bowling action. Holding has to submit his report to the ICC and the PCB by Feb 7. Until that time, Shoaib was cleared to play but would be banned for one year if reported again. The PCB is facing a financial crunch after it was denied the right to earn estimated $30million this year in lieu of cancellation of Indian and New Zealand tours. However, the ICC said the extent of Holding's work with Shoaib will be by agreement between the PCB, Michael and Shoaib. "The consultancy can take place at any suitable and appropriate location, providing that facilities required by the advisor are available and to the required standard," the ICC said. The ICC said before Holding began working with Shoaib, he would be fully briefed by the ICC and supplied with all relevant background and reference material. "These will include the report compiled in Western Australia during Stage One of the reporting and review process, together with video footage of Shoaib bowling in Sharjah and elsewhere as required." The ICC consulted with many former Test players and captains in developing the new process and believe it represents a fair but effective solution to the problem. This is a sensitive area and we have put forward a system that offers help and assistance to bowlers suspected of having problems with their actions. "These three stages give ample opportunity for a player to overcome these and demonstrate conclusively that his action is entirely legal, while remaining within the game." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011115 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ICC refuses to treat Shoaib as special case ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Samiul Hassan KARACHI, Nov 14: The International Cricket Council (ICC) spurned Pakistan Cricket Board's request to treat Shoaib Akhtar as special case. "Having discussed your request with the ICC President (Malcolm Gray), I am unable to agree to treat this as a special case outside the carefully established process to deal with matters of this kind," ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said in a hard- hitting statement to Dawn. His reaction came after the PCB publicized its four-page request, signed by director Brig Munawwar Rana, on its official website. The game's controlling body further said although it had appointed Michael Holding to work as Shoaib's advisor, it could not and would not force Shoaib or the PCB to utilize his services. "If the PCB formally declines to comply with the Stage Two process, the ICC would notify all umpires and referees of that decision. "This would effectively conclude Stage Two and Shoaib could continue to play, having forfeited the opportunity to work with one of the world's greatest and most knowledgeable fast bowlers." However, the risk in declining the option of a bowling advisor would mean an instant one-year suspension if Shoaib was reported again. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011115 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shoaib apologizes over gestures ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter KARACHI, Nov 14: Shoaib Akhtar apologized to his fans over his conduct in the Sharjah Cup final against Sri Lanka which is to be investigated by the PCB disciplinary committee. "I am extremely sorry and apologetic over whatever happened. It all happened in the heat of the moment but I can now only regret". Shoaib is set to appear before the Pakistan Cricket Board disciplinary committee Monday. However, initial indications were that the bowler would be left off with a reprimand. A committee member, on the condition of anonymity, argued that if the match referee (Denis Lindsay) didn't penalize Shoaib, they didn't have a solid case to impose fine. "Shoaib's gestures must have been within the laws of the game otherwise he would have been pulled up by the match referee." Lindsay didn't take notice of the on-the-field incident but left Shoaib's career in jeopardy when he raised unsubstantiated "concerns" against his bowling action. Shoaib, who was also fined Rs50,000 and suspended from a one-day international in March last year, admitted he failed to control his emotions." Looking back at things, I realize that I should have acted more professionally and maturely. "I couldn't control my emotions and got carried away by the atmosphere which was very charged," Shoaib said. Shoaib passed on remarks and showed gestures to Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardena after getting him caught behind. A ball earlier, the Sri Lankan had struck Shoaib for a boundary. The batsman had also welcomed Shoaib with a first-ball six over long-leg. "From Dennis Lillee to Brett Lee, all fast bowlers do different things to upset the batsman. It's very natural. "When one takes a prized scalp, he celebrates and can deliver some unkind words," Shoaib said. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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