------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 6 October 2001 Issue : 07/40 -------------------------------------------------------------------
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CONTENTS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS + Islamabad has valid concern + Evidence enough to indict Osama: FO + US welcomes statement on evidence + Mulla Omar warns of long war if govt toppled + Taliban's days are numbered: Musharraf + Islamabad asked not to act as kingmaker + Ties with Kabul can't be cut: FO + Mly action to target terrorists: Musharraf + No request from US for use of bases: Qureshi + 1,000 troops leave for Uzbekistan + WHO to investigate spread of disease + Pakistan warned of biological attack + No extremism in army: CE: Nuclear weapons in safe hands + National interests surrendered: PML + US move to suspend democracy sanctions + Military aid likely as US Senate passes bill + Bill introduced for sale of defence goods to Pakistan + PML denies approving Osama's arrest plan + No operational plan yet: FO + Shujaat unaware of plan to capture Osama in 1999 + Osama: CIA had trained Pakistani commandos + Islamabad wants to use Zahir option + JI chief warns of dire consequences + US revising Pakistani, Indian entities' list + UN allows use of force against terrorists + Palestinian hijackers file plea against extradition to US + Washington to give $320m assistance for Afghans + Mengal says no to more Afghan refugees + Four Afghan shells land near Chaman + Fresh summons for Benazir, others issued in ARY Gold case + Court resummons witness in Wattoo corruption case + 29 killed in Srinagar car bomb blast + 31 Indians released + No judge available to try Asif in murder case + PPP man dies in NAB custody --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + Canada lifts sanctions + $600m US economic support under study + War risk surcharge: Pakistan likely to suffer $200m loss + Where the rupee is going? --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + The terrorists within Ardeshir Cowasjee + Joining the international mainstream Ayaz Amir + A nation divided Irfan Husain ----------- SPORTS + Akram faces possible three-year suspension + PCB fails to guarantee players safety + World Cup matches were fixed, claims Sarfraz
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS 20011006 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Islamabad has valid concern ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Oct 5: British Prime Minister Tony Blair made a firm commitment to address Pakistan's political concerns in the post- Taliban setup in Kabul and to extend all possible cooperation to solve Islamabad's economic problems. "If the current Taliban regime fails to yield up Osama bin Laden and his associates then it must fall, and its successors must be a broad-based government with every key ethnic group, including Pushtoon, represented in it," Mr Blair told reporters at a joint press conference with President Pervez Musharraf. The prime minister appreciated Pakistan's political interests in Afghanistan, saying Islamabad had valid interests and close involvement in any future arrangement in Kabul. Mr Blair, who arrived here from Moscow, stressed the inclusion of Pushtoons, a dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan, in the proposed broad-based government was extremely important. He said that if the Taliban failed to hand over Osama and his associates then they would be considered the people shielding terrorists and a legitimate enemy. Britain, Mr Blair said, would restore defence cooperation with Pakistan and also help in working out a new IMF programme. Pakistan, he noted, had already successfully completed first phase of its IMF programme. "In addition, we will support strongly the trade cooperation agreement with the European Union due to be finalized on Monday," he said, adding they would also help Islamabad in issues like debt in the context of the new IMF package. "We and other countries will provide the necessary resources to help Pakistan cope with the refugee problem," he said, announcing a $40 million relief package for Afghan refugees and another $15 million for the host country for supporting refugees. Tracing the history of the relations between the people of two countries, he said: "Now is the time to use our past and present friendship to help resolve the current crisis in the interest of people of not only this region but the whole world." MUSHARRAF: President Musharraf in his brief remarks said the focus of their two-hour discussion remained on Afghanistan. He said his government was convinced that there was evidence showing a link between the terrorist acts and Osama. "However, we are not standing here in judgment on the details of the evidence," he said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011005 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Evidence enough to indict Osama: FO ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Oct 4: Government said that the evidence provided by the United States against Osama bin Laden was sufficient to indict him in a court of law. "We have seen the material that was provided to us by the American side yesterday," Foreign Office spokesman Riaz Muhammad Khan told reporters at his briefing about the evidence that Islamabad said was received on Wednesday. The investigations against Osama bin Laden were still continuing and Islamabad expected that the evidence shared with it would be supplemented by additional material, he said. Asked whether the material was related to the Sept 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, or to the bombing of the US embassies in Tanzania and Nairobi, the spokesman said it related to both incidents. As regards the question of sharing the proof with the international community, he said they had not been requested to share the evidence with anybody. "It is for the US to exercise its judgment on this question." However, he observed, the case of Washington in taking action against those responsible for the terrorist acts would be strengthened if this evidence was publicized. He noted that certain sensitivities were involved with regard to confidentiality of the evidence and that it should be a US decision as to what extent it could be shared or whether they could go to the extent of publicizing it. He said they had not been asked to approach Taliban, adding it was for the United States and Taliban to get in touch with each other regarding the evidence against Osama. He said the evidence shared by the United States had no reference of the Al Rasheed Trust (ART) whose accounts had been frozen by the government following a determination by the US that the trust, with 26 other organizations, had been a source of funds for Osama and his Al Qaida group. The spokesman said the government had asked the US administration to provide evidence against ART, which, it believed, was primarily a charity organization working for the welfare of Afghan refugees. In reply to a question about the influx of Afghan refugees, he said there were reports that around 800 people crossed over to Pakistan daily. The established entry points, he pointed out, were lying closed. There was a tremendous pressure on Pakistan's western borders and hundreds of thousands of people were pressing to enter the country, he added. In reply to a question about foreign nationals, particularly Arabs, the spokesman said the government was checking credentials of all the expatriates working with the NGOs. He said it was part of the restrictive visa policy and added that issuance of visa at the airports on arrivals had been stopped. All visa applications were now accepted only by Pakistani missions to be referred to Islamabad for clearance, he said. Agencies add: "There are sufficient grounds for indictment and it reinforces the resolutions of the Security Council taken earlier," the spokesman said, referring to the United Nations sanctions slapped on the Taliban in 1999 and 2001 for their refusal to hand over Osama to the United States or a third country. He said Pakistan had not been asked to share the material with the Taliban and it would not do so. "Pakistan is not talking to the Taliban on behalf of any other country or persons." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011006 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US welcomes statement on evidence ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Oct 5: The United States has welcomed Pakistan's statement that Islamabad considers the evidence provided to it by Washington to be sufficient to indict Osama bin Laden. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at his afternoon briefing: "We certainly welcome the announcement by the Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman that Pakistan believes that there is sufficient evidence to indict Osama bin Laden's organization for the Sept 11 terror attacks. Pakistan has stated its intention to work for a broad-based and representative government in Afghanistan, and we share that goal as well." Mr Boucher added: "We are confident that Pakistan will fulfil its commitments as a key member of the global coalition against terrorism. We are continuing our consultations on how best to wage the campaign against terrorism, as we are doing with many other countries involved in the international coalition." Pakistan has become the first Muslim country to accept that the US has credible evidence implicating Osama and Al Qaida in the Sept 11 attacks, and reports here on Friday said Islamabad's statement should help to rally other Islamic states to fully join the coalition. Mr Boucher refused to be drawn into discussing the word "indictment" used in the Pakistani statement and whether this meant that Pakistan could try Osama in a Pakistani court. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mulla Omar warns of long war if govt toppled ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report PESHAWAR, Oct 1: Mulla Omar warned that the Taliban would retreat to the mountains and wage a long war against the former Afghan monarch if the Taliban government was toppled in the event of an attack on Afghanistan. "Taliban are an organized force. Theirs is not a government like that of Zahir Shah whose government was toppled and his forces surrendered before another authority. If the Taliban government is toppled, they would retreat to the mountains. How will he rule then? How will he survive? Don't ruin yourself, don't drown yourself," the Taliban supreme leader said in a radio address to the nation. In what is seen as the most direct and stinging attack on the former king, Zahir Shah, who lives in self-exile in Rome since his government was toppled by his cousin Sardar Muhammad Daud in 1973, Mulla Omar warned: "Don't be mistaken, people will come after you and kill you." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Taliban's days are numbered: Musharraf ------------------------------------------------------------------- LONDON, Oct 1: President Pervez Musharraf said that the days of the Taliban appeared numbered, saying he was "re-evaluating" ties with the militia. In an interview on BBC World Service radio, he said Pakistan was trying to "interact" with the Taliban rather than "save" them. Asked if the Taliban's days were numbered, he said: "It appears so. It appears that the United States will take action in Afghanistan, and we have conveyed this to the Taliban... that was the reason we were interacting with them so that some moderation takes place and maybe this kind of action is averted," he said. "But it appears that because of the stand that the Taliban have taken that confrontation will take place."-Agencies DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011006 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Islamabad asked not to act as kingmaker ------------------------------------------------------------------- JABAL SERAJ, Oct 5: The Afghanistan's Northern Alliance warned Pakistan not to try and influence the leadership of the country in a post-Taliban scenario and played down suggestions that the former king should take up the reins as head of state. Since the September 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, blamed on Osama bin Laden, former king Zahir Shah has been at the centre of efforts to replace the Taliban regime. On Monday, he forged a deal with Afghan opposition groups to form a supreme council that would elect a head of state and transitional government if the Taliban fell. President Pervez Musharraf has also written to the Rome-based ex- monarch requesting the urgent dispatch of an envoy to Islamabad for talks on the political future of Afghanistan. Dr Abdullah Abdullah, chief spokesman for the opposition Northern Alliance, said that he expected the council would convene in opposition-held territory in the next 10 days. But Dr Abdullah was keen to play down suggestions that the council could result in the election of the 86-year-old Zahir Shah as the next head of state. Dr Abdullah also criticized Musharraf's request for Zahir Shah to send an envoy to Islamabad. "If countries in the region have to get involved, six plus two is the best formula," he said - referring to Afghanistan's six neighbouring countries, plus the United States and Russia.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ties with Kabul can't be cut: FO ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Hasan Akhtar ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: Pakistan cannot sever its diplomatic relations with Afghanistan and cannot afford the "luxury of insulating" itself from Kabul. Foreign Office spokesman Riaz Mohammad Khan stated that this isolation would amount to "strangulation" of the people of Afghanistan who always depended on Pakistan for their transit trade, food supplies, etc. Asked what was the good of having relations with Afghanistan when Kabul had declined to cooperate with Islamabad on the Osama bin Laden issue, the spokesman said that if Islamabad had no contacts with Kabul, and if no food reached Afghanistan then it would mean that tens of thousands of Afghans would be pouring into Pakistan adding to the millions of those already living in refugee camps. "The contacts that we have maintained are dictated by geographical compulsions" and were not "purely academic" as in case of most of the countries, he explained. One should ponder, the spokesman suggested, over the consequences if these relations were to be severed. Most of the humanitarian and United Nations agencies, he reminded, had been operating in Afghanistan from Pakistan. Even during the last couple of days, he recalled, the UN under-secretary responsible for humanitarian affairs had come here to meet the Taliban ambassador in Islamabad to seek assistance for supply of the World Food Programme consignments to Afghanistan. They had requested for Pakistan's assistance as well, he added. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mly action to target terrorists: Musharraf ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Oct 3: President Gen Pervez Musharraf told the joint meeting of the National Security Council and the federal cabinet that no war was intended against Afghanistan and that the actions being contemplated by certain countries were targeted against terrorists and those who provide sanctuary to terrorists. Referring to the current crisis in the region, he, however, said that Pakistan would like to set its own course directed by considerations of national interests and the principles of the United Nations Charter. He was confident that both Pakistan and Afghanistan will emerge stronger out of this situation. He said that national interest was the only constant factor in inter-state relations as policies change to protect the national interest against a continuously changing international environment. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No request from US for use of bases: Qureshi ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: Pakistan renounced speculations that it has received a formal demand from the United States for allowing six air force bases for launching attack on Afghanistan. Major-General Rashid Qureshi, chief spokesman for the government of Pakistan, told Dawn that the US Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin during her meeting with the president had raised no such demand. Gen Qureshi, who was in Peshawar on Tuesday, said that there was no truth in the speculations that Pakistan has acceded to the US demand for providing six PAF bases - Peshawar, Quetta, Shamzi, Rajanpur, Kohat and Shahbaz. He said that Pakistan has so far maintained borderline stand with regards to allowing US troops to use Pakistan soil for hitting targets inside Afghanistan. It has also made it clear that Pakistani troops would not take part in any offensive in Afghanistan. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011006 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1,000 troops leave for Uzbekistan ------------------------------------------------------------------- TASHKENT, Oct 5: Some 1,000 US elite troops are en route to Uzbekistan in the first major deployment of US ground forces in the showdown with Afghanistan, an official travelling with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. "The 10th mountain division is in the air," the official told reporters travelling with Rumsfeld, who flew into Tashkent from Cairo. The 10th mountain division, which specializes in cold- weather fighting, could also be used as a rapid-reaction force to back up special forces' missions in Afghanistan, the Washington Post reported earlier this week. US troops have held military exercises in former Soviet republics before, but never for an operation of this kind. US warships and bombers are positioned within striking distance of Afghanistan and US special forces have been deployed to the region. But except for some 2,200 combat-ready US Marines aboard amphibious assault ships in waters off Pakistan, no large contingents of ground forces had moved until now. The Uzbeks could also be a valuable source of much-needed intelligence on Afghanistan's ruling Taliban and the activities of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network.-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011005 ------------------------------------------------------------------- WHO to investigate spread of disease ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Oct 4: The World Health Organisation, the National Institute of Health and the provincial health authorities of Balochistan will start investigations into the reports about the outbreak of Crimean Congo Haemmoraghic Fever (CCHF) in Quetta. Speaking at a press conference, the United Nations Information centre director, Eric Falt, said that 40 cases of the CCHF were detected in different parts of the country earlier during the months of May to August. At least 11 persons are known to have died from the disease during this time period, he said, adding, the cases were reported by Pakistan's health authorities and substantiated by the WHO. Director UNIC said that the first case of CCHF was detected in May and the last was reported in August. "The disease is not new in Pakistan and has affected people from Quetta to Karachi in the past." The disease spreads through bite of ticks and affects the human population, he said. About the authenticity of the reports that CCHF, labelled as "Ebola like virus," has spread in Quetta, Mr Falt said that the Quetta based WHO officials have not confirmed new cases and a fact finding mission will be leaving for the city. The citizens should not draw any conclusions until the reports are confirmed, he said. The medical teams being dispatched to Quetta are to monitor people's health and immediately screen anybody who might harbour symptoms of the disease. According to UN officials, the CCHF is said to be "Ebola like" which itself is a highly contagious and often fatal form of Viral Haemmoraghic Fever. Doctors told Dawn that in Pakistan the disease has been reported in Afghan nationals and refugees. Earlier this year, two cases of Congo Fever were brought to Shifa International Hospital Islamabad who later expired. The doctors and paramedic staff dealing with the cases were also affected because of the highly contagious nature of the disease, but since infection in the doctors was detected early, they survived, doctors said, adding similar cases were detected in other parts of the country. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan warned of biological attack ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, Sept 30: The United States has warned Pakistan of possible biological warfare and attacks by terrorists and asked it to prepare contingency plans to check it, highly-placed sources told Dawn. Following the US alert, the authorities were preparing contingency plans for the unusual mode of attack and had reportedly sought $1 million assistance from the US for upgrading their facilities, the sources said. The sources said there were reports that the terrorists might unleash attacks by biological weapons in Pakistan in response to the US attack on alleged terrorist bases run by Al-Qaida of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Pakistan's two defence laboratories - one in Karachi and the other in Islamabad - were working to prepare the vaccine to combat biological agents, the sources said, adding that the existing facilities would need to be upgraded for properly coping with such an attack. The country had the required expertise to prepare vaccine for biological agents and if funds were provided the vaccine could be made available in days, the sources said. Under the plan two mobile self-contained micro-biology laboratories would be established, they added. The authorities said they would also be looking forward to the WHO for technological assistance in preparing a defence against biological weapons. International agencies, meanwhile, have expressed reservations about Pakistan's ability to cope with such an attack. The vaccine available with international agencies would not be enough to provide coverage to the people in the event of an attack by biological agents, the sources disclosed. Officials of the National Crisis Management Team said the authorities were making all possible arrangements to combat such a threat. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No extremism in army: CE: Nuclear weapons in safe hands ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Sept 30: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan's nuclear weapons are extremely safe and there are no extremists within the armed forces who could try to seize control of them in the current crisis. "I am very, very sure that the command and control setup that we have evolved for ourselves is very, very secure," Musharraf said in an interview with CNN here on Sunday. The president dismissed concerns that elements within the armed forces were sympathetic to the Taliban regime and might try to make a grab for control of nuclear weapons. "There is no chance of these assets falling into the hands of extremists," Musharraf said. The army is the most disciplined army in the world and there is no chance of any extremism coming into the army. "We have an excellent command system. We have excellent traditions, and I don't see this doomsday scenario ever appearing," the president added. The president insisted that those opposing his decision of extending cooperation to the world community against terrorism were a handful of religious extremists while the entire nation was behind him. When asked whether he had not taken a huge risk for his government by siding with the world community, the president dismissed fears that his government might fall as a result of his decision. When asked why out of the entire Muslim world only Pakistan had been singled out to become a frontline state in war against terrorism, the president said we had put this question to the United States and we were also in the process of getting other Muslim states along which have already announced their full support to the world community. He mentioned Oct 8 OIC foreign ministers conference as one step in that direction. Gen Musharraf was positive when asked if Pakistan would afford to provide airspace facility to the allied forces when they make air strikes on Afghanistan. He said: "We have been asked to provide intelligence services, airspace facility and also logistics but we need to get into modalities as they come along." The president, however, added: "I would not like that Pakistani troops enter into Afghanistan." "We don't know anything about the operational plan as yet," Musharraf said. He did not agree with the reports that thousands of US troops have already landed in Pakistan and said: "I have no such information and I am certainly clear that no one is based in Pakistan." To a question about Osama bin Laden, President Musharraf said we have no evidence as none is shared by the US with us. "There is no evidence that has been shared with us as yet," he said. "I really don't know what is the confidential part of this evidence. "If there is confidentiality in it, in the interest of justice, we certainly would understand that. But those parts which would facilitate a better understanding of the people at large should be shared." When asked whether he expected any flexibility in the attitude of the Taliban militia as a result of his government's efforts including two missions already sent, the president said: "Hopes are very dim that the Taliban would meet US demands to hand over Osama bin Laden. The signals that come out are not very encouraging." To a question about potential support to the Northern Alliance, the president said: "We are interested in peace in Afghanistan as we are interested in a government there which is interested in a moderate, united Afghanistan." He said that Pakistan was the only state with diplomatic ties with Kabul regime and we continue to interact with them as due to our interaction we have been able to put forth the view of our government and the international concerns about terrorism and got their stand flexible with the ulema's decree. Replying to a question about the religious institutions and fears of terrorist training attached to them, the president said: "We have some 6,000 Madrassa most of them imparting religious education but there is no real evidence of training in militancy by anyone of them. Mind you, these Madaris were public welfare institutions in real terms as they impart free education to thousands of students, provide them with shelter and boarding facilities," the president added. He, however, stated with clarity that government was determined to weed out terrorists activities from the country. He said Harkatul Mujahideen whose accounts were frozen in the US and Pakistan had no offices in the country for it was operating inside held Kashmir. When questioned about possible economic benefits that his government expected in lieu of its cooperation to the US, President Musharraf said: "It is not a deal and what is going on is not a result of it." He said we were faced with difficulties after becoming frontline state and "do expect that the US would consider our difficulties". The president said he has the support of "the entire people of Pakistan," except for the religious extremists - who have extremist views - "but, they are in minority." He said Pakistanis could be bracketed in three categories: religious extremist minority, upper class and lower middle class. The entire nation is convinced of the response of the Pakistan government to combating of international terrorism, he added. Responding to the question whether he was still committed to taking the country back on democratic rails, President Musharraf unequivocally said: "I shall remain committed to the nation in my pledge to returning to democratic rule and have clearly laid down the same by announcing a roadmap." DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- National interests surrendered: PML ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Oct 3: Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) expressed deep concern over the reports that the military regime has been discussing with the United States possible American assistance for the security of Pakistan's nuclear installations. In a statement issued here, the PML spokesman said that the move amounted to compromising Pakistan's most vital security interests. The spokesman said it was expected that the reports, emanating from Washington, would be contradicted or at least a plausible clarification would be issued from Islamabad. "However, continued silence of the official spokesman has strengthened the suspicion that the military rulers have completely surrendered the national interests before the global hegemonic interests of the US," he alleged. The spokesman said that the reports, carried by the national press, clearly stated that the top-level US military team visiting Islamabad last week "discussed possible US help to Pakistan to provide equipment and other assistance for improving security and installing new safeguards on Pakistan's nuclear weapons and at its nuclear power plants." The PML spokesman said it was an open secret that the US had all along been deadly against development of nuclear deterrent capability by Pakistan and the country had to suffer harsh economic sanctions for 11 years due to its nuclear program. "How could then the Americans be entrusted with providing protection to our nuclear installations," the spokesman asked. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011005 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US move to suspend democracy sanctions ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Tahir Mirza WASHINGTON, Oct 4: The Senate foreign relations committee unanimously approved a draft bill for Congressional approval that would enable President George Bush to temporarily waive the remaining sanctions against Pakistan. The draft, which tailors the waivers to meet specific objectives rather than give broad or sweeping waiver authority to the president, has three significant elements. It proposes vesting the president with the authority to waive democracy sanctions under Section 508; it also seeks to invest the president with the authority to waive, in the interests of national security, sanctions imposed under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and to be able to do without the 45-day notification period required for mandatory prior intimation to Congress; and it recommends to do away with the 30-day period necessary under the Brooke amendment for approval of rescheduling of loans. Present MTCR restrictions apply to Pakistan's defence ministry and Suparco, and the bill should provide additional flexibility to the Bush administration in extending military assistance to Islamabad. The waiver of the remaining sanctions on Pakistan was widely expected after the waivers given last month on nuclear-related prohibitions on both India and Pakistan. The move has strong support in Congress, with both Senator Joseph Biden, chairman of the foreign relations committee, and Senator Sam Brownback, who is the mover of the present bill, publicly advocating the waiver of all sanctions. Senator Biden in his opening remarks at the foreign relations committee meeting on Thursday said democracy sanctions were proposed to be waived for fiscal year 2001, and could be waived the next year also provided the president determined that doing so would facilitate the transition to democratic rule in Pakistan and if it was considered important in the fight against terrorism. The senator said rather than providing the broad waiver sought by the State Department, the committee had tailored legislation to address the specific provisions of law that were obstacles to helping Pakistan. Apart from Mr Biden and Mr Brownback, the bill is sponsored by senators Jesse Helms, Mitch McConnel, Tim Johnson and George Allen. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill introduced for sale of defence goods to Pakistan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Monitoring Desk WASHINGTON, Sept 29: United States Senator Sam Brownback has introduced a Bill seeking to authorize the sale of military goods and services as well as dual-use items to both Pakistan and India by waiving till September 30, 2003, existing legislation, reports a website of PTI news agency. The US' nuclear cooperation with Pakistan and India, however, continued to be barred as per the provisions of the Bill. The Bill, was co-sponsored by Senator Mitch Mcconnell. It authorizes the President, George W Bush to provide for India and Pakistan "assistance, enter into contracts, take actions in international financial institutions, sell, lease or authorise the export of defence articles or defence services, authorise the export of dual use items or extend other financial assistance". The only condition being it should be "in the national interest of the United States and important to its efforts to respond to, deter or prevent acts of international terrorism". DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011006 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Military aid likely as US Senate passes bill ------------------------------------------------------------------- WASHINGTON, Oct 5: The Senate hurriedly passed legislation suspending sanctions on Pakistan, a country the United States sees as key to its efforts toward punishing those responsible for the Sept 11 attack on the United States. The Senate voted without debating the legislation, only hours after the Foreign Relations Committee approved the measure. The unusually quick pace reflected the urgency senators and the Bush administration attached to the bill. The legislation still must be considered by the House. US military and economic aid to Pakistan has been interrupted for several years to punish Islamabad for testing nuclear weapons and for the 1999 military coup that replaced a democratically elected government. Pakistan's arrears on debt to the United States, which recently was rescheduled, also limited future US loan activity. The legislation would allow President George W. Bush to initiate military and other aid to Pakistan for the current fiscal year, which began on Oct 1, and for the following year. Following the Sept 11 attack on the United States that left at least 5,700 people dead or missing, Pakistan's military leader indicated a willingness to cooperate with US attempts to apprehend Osama bin Laden and his associates. Using his executive powers, Bush recently announced some new aid for Pakistan. But legislation is required to carry out a wider range of US assistance to Pakistan. The Senate-passed bill arrived on the floor Thursday with solid bipartisan backing. Among proponents of the legislation are Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, and Sen. Jesse Helms, one of the most conservative Republicans serving in the Senate. Before Biden's committee approved the bill Thursday, the chairman warned Pakistan's military leaders the legislation should not be viewed as a "green light" to cancel elections set for next fall or to go ahead with further nuclear weapons tests.-Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011005 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PML denies approving Osama's arrest plan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Oct 4: Pakistan Muslim League has contradicted a Washington Post report alleging that Mian Nawaz Sharif, the then prime minister, had approved a plan prepared by the then US government to arrest Osama bin Laden. In a PML central secretariat statement, a PML spokesman said that the hypothetical report was based on "possibilities, assumptions and unnamed sources". He said that prime minister Nawaz Sharif always protected the national interest and represented the wishes of the people. The spokesman said that despite as many as five telephone calls form the former US President Clinton, Nawaz Sharif declined to accept his demand to forego nuclear tests in exchange for economic aid and waiver of US sanctions. "He decided to explode six nuclear devices to ensure independence and security of the country, although it was a golden opportunity to procure economic assistance and get the sanctions waived off," he added. The spokesman pointed out that in a recent interview with CNN and BBC Mr Clinton went on record with the admission, "I had issued direction to kill or arrest Osama bin Laden but the then democratic government refused to help me, while the present United States government is getting cooperation from the Musharraf government." He said it was on record that when the United States fired cruise missiles on Afghanistan in August 1998, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had lodged a strong protest with Washington, making it clear that attack on Afghanistan without permission from the government of Pakistan was wrong. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011006 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No operational plan yet: FO ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Oct 5: Pakistan said the US had not provided any specific operational plan, but made it clear the sentiment was that only those responsible for terrorism should be targeted and care should be exercised to ensure that innocent people didn't suffer. This was stated by Foreign Office spokesman Riaz Muhammad Khan in reply to a question at the daily briefing. The spokesman said that Indian external affairs minister Jaswant Singh's remarks that Islamabad was part of the problem of terrorism and not part of a solution were "no surprise". "It is usual for them (Indian officials) to say such things," he said in reply to a question. Mr Singh had made the remarks to the BBC in the context of the Kashmir freedom struggle which India blamed on Pakistan. He said the struggle in held Kashmir was not terrorism but a fight for the right of self-determination which had been going on for 54 years. Not only the international community recognized it as such but wanted it to be resolved urgently through negotiations. Pakistan, he said, was no den of terrorists, as alleged by India, but a victim of terrorism in the 1980s for supporting the anti- Soviet struggle in bordering Afghanistan and in the 1990s for supporting the Kashmiris' freedom struggle.-Agencies DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011005 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shujaat unaware of plan to capture Osama in 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter LAHORE, Oct 4: Former interior minister Chaudhry Shujaat Husain does not know that the US Central Intelligence Agency had trained some Pakistani commandos in 1999 to enter Afghanistan and capture Osama bin Laden, as reported by an American paper. "I don't know whether any such thing had happened. If at all any plan had been prepared or the commandos had been sent to the US for training, the interior ministry was not in the picture," he said while talking to Dawn. Mr Husain said had the commandos belonged to any institution other than the army, the interior ministry must have known that they had been sent abroad for training. He said the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had never discussed the Osama issue in any cabinet meeting nor had he ever taken it up with him privately. Had Mr Sharif ever done so, he said, he would have vehemently opposed any plan to send Pakistani commandos to Afghanistan to capture the Saudi dissident. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Osama: CIA had trained Pakistani commandos ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Oct 3: The US Central Intelligence Agency had trained some Pakistani commandos in 1999 to enter Afghanistan and capture Osama bin Laden, but the plan was shelved when the Nawaz Sharif government was displaced by the military. The revelation is made in a story published by The Washington Post under banner headlines. It says the operation was arranged by Nawaz Sharif and his chief of intelligence with the Clinton administration, which in turn had promised to lift sanctions on Pakistan and provide an economic package the precise steps that the Bush administration is now undertaking following Islamabad's pledge of support for the US-led campaign against terrorism. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage refused in a television interview on Wednesday morning to comment on the Post story, saying intelligence matters could not be discussed in public, but unnamed administration officials were quoted as confirming the report. The Post also said a proposal by Sudan in 1996 to arrest Osama, who was then in that country, and deport him to Saudi Arabia had fallen through after Riyadh refused to agree to accept Osama. Talking of a record of "missed opportunities" in the drive against Osama and Al Qaeda, the Post said the US-Pakistani intelligence plan was set in motion less than 12 months after American Tomahawk missiles were launched on Afghanistan. The Pakistani commando team trained by the CIA "was up and running and ready to strike by October 1999", according to one official, when the plan was aborted after the Oct 12 overthrow of the Sharif government by Gen Pervez Musharraf and the army. The Post says Gen Musharraf, who has now committed himself to back the US, had refused to continue with the operation despite attempts at persuasion by the Clinton administration. It adds: "The record of the CIA's aborted relationship with Pakistan two years ago illustrates the value - and the pitfalls - of such an alliance in targeting bin Laden." The paper says Pakistan and its intelligence services have valuable information about what is occurring inside Afghanistan. "But a former US official said joint operations with the Pakistani service are always dicey, because the Taliban militia that rules most of Afghanistan has penetrated Pakistani intelligence." According to the Post, president Clinton's national security adviser Samuel "Sandy" Berger says Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden were the number one security threat to America after 1998 (the year when, in August, 200 people were killed in bomb attacks at the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania). "It was the highest priority and a range of appropriate actions were taken". DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Islamabad wants to use Zahir option: Italian minister's briefing ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Oct 3: Pakistan invited former Afghan king Zahir Shah to send his emissary to Islamabad as soon as possible, apparently to find out a consensus arrangement in the anticipated post-Taliban scenario. "President Pervez Musharraf asked me to convey a message to (former) king Zahir Shah to send his emissary to Pakistan as soon as possible," Italian minister of state for foreign affairs Margherita Boniver told a news conference. Pakistan, she said, wanted the former king's role in an alternative government in Afghanistan under the supervision of the United Nations. "Pakistan has always linked the possible role of the former king to a UN role in forming a new government." Asked when former king's emissary was expected, Ms Boniver said dates had not been discussed. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US revising Pakistani, Indian entities' list ------------------------------------------------------------------- Monitoring Desk WASHINGTON, Sept 29: The Bush administration is revising its list of Indian and Pakistani entities that were denied imports of US dual-use technology after the two countries conducted nuclear tests in May 1998, according to the IANS website. The Commerce Department began the exercise after President W. Bush's Sept 22 order, scrapping nuclear-related sanctions against India and Pakistan. The waiver permits the lifting of the denial policy currently in place in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) for NP (N-proliferation) - and MT (missile technology) - control- led items to these countries. The department's Export Administration has said that Bush has waived the Glenn Amendment sanctions that applied to dual-use items controlled for nuclear and missile reasons of the Arms Export Control Act. Meanwhile, the State Department released a fact-sheet containing a summary of the sanctions against India and Pakistan that Bush has waived. The Glenn Amendment sanctions, which have now ceased to exist, prohibited assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act, US government credit, credit guarantees and "other financial assistance". It had directed the US to "oppose" non-basic human needs loans, financial or technical assistance through international financial institutions, barred export licences for US Munitions List items and certain dual-use items. It also prohibited government defence sales. The waiver will apply to certain sanctions that were imposed only on Pakistan. These include Export-Import Bank guarantees and insurance and credits to any non-nuclear weapons state that detonates a nuclear device. Also waived is the Pakistan-specific Pressler Amendment, which prohibited military assistance and transfers of military equipment or technology unless the president certifies that Pakistan does not possess a nuclear explosive device. Pakistan will also benefit from the US decision to scrap sanctions under the Symington Amendment, which blocks economic assistance, military assistance or international military education and training (IMET), assistance for peacekeeping operations, or military credits or guarantees to any country, which receives nuclear enrichment equipment without safeguards from any other country. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- UN allows use of force against terrorists ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Masood Haider UNITED NATIONS, Sept 29: The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a comprehensive anti-terrorism resolution which authorizes use of force against terrorists and their political and military supporters. Invoking Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, the resolution makes it mandatory on all 189 member states to crack down on the financing, training and movement of terrorists. In an unusually quick decision, the Security Council approved the US-sponsored resolution in a 15-0 vote to underscore the unanimity of spirit in the council to combat terrorism in the backdrop of attacks on the US. It was adopted a day after it was introduced in the council. "This is an unprecedented resolution on terrorism in the work of the United Nations," said John D. Negroponte, the United States ambassador. It obliges all member states to deny financing, support and safe haven to terrorists. The main focus of the resolution is on the financing of clandestine networks. It seeks to freeze assets of people who have committed, or attempted to commit, terrorist acts or participated in groups owned or controlled "directly or indirectly" by such people. The resolution also requires countries to deny safe haven to anyone responsible for or supporting a terrorist attack. The diplomats also said many of the resolution's requirements would require changes in national legal codes, such as those dealing with border controls or policies on asylum. Both the Security Council and the General Assembly quickly adopted resolutions condemning the attacks and endorsing an American response immediately after the US attacks. The main features of the resolution are: * "Prevent and suppress the financing of terrorists." * "Freeze without delay" the resources of terrorists and terror organizations, none were specifically cited. * Prohibit anyone from making funds available to terrorist organizations. * Suppress the recruitment of new members by terrorist organizations and eliminate their weapon supplies. * "Deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support or commit terrorist acts, or provide save havens." * Afford one another the greatest measure of assistance" in criminal investigations involving terrorism. * "Prevent the movement of terrorists or terrorist groups by effective border controls" and control over travel documents. The diplomats here said that the resolution, could be interpreted to open the way for the use of force against the radical Taliban government of Afghanistan if it failed to "deny safe haven" to terrorist groups. It also called on all the states to report within 90 days on how they were complying with the stipulations of the resolution. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Palestinian hijackers file plea against extradition to US ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: The Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi bench, will take up the petition of five Palestinian hijackers, lodged in Adiala jail, demanding that they should not be handed over to the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for extradition to the United States. One of them has already been handed over to the FBI by the Pakistani authorities. The Palestinian hijackers had filed the petition last week but it was not taken up. Now they have filed a fresh application, seeking interim order as the situation is changing dramatically and they fear that they would be handed over. According to counsel for the hijackers, Advocate Tariq Asad,, the application for interim order will be taken up on Tuesday by Justice Javed Buttar of LHC, Rawalpindi bench. The hijackers contended in their petition, that if they were to be handed over to the USA, they should have been handed over in 1985. When they have completed all the punishment for the crime, there was no justification for handing them over to the USA for fresh trial, they said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011005 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Washington to give $320m assistance for Afghans ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Oct 4: President George Bush announced $320 million in humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan and for neighbouring states to help Afghan refugees. A major component of the assistance, $295 million, will go to Afghans suffering from drought, famine and displacement because of the threat of a US-led strike against their country. But the step was also seen as part of an effort to woo ordinary Afghans and isolate the Taliban regime ahead of action against Osama bin Laden and Al Qaida bases. The new aid, which will be channelled through the World Food Program and voluntary organizations, was announced by President George Bush during a visit to the State Department. Two influential senators, Senator Joseph Biden (Democrat), chairman of the foreign relations committee, and Senator Sam Brownback (Republican), a ranking member of the foreign relations Near East and South Asia subcommittee, have also underlined the need for humanitarian aid for the people of Afghanistan. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mengal says no to more Afghan refugees ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent QUETTA, Oct 3: Governor Balochistan Justice (retd) Amirul Mengal has said that Pakistan was not in a position to bear the burden of more Afghan refugees. He said that Pakistan has decided not to allow any more Afghan refugees to cross into the country as over two million Afghan refugees are already here for the last 20 years. He added, Pakistan has 2,500km-long border with Afghanistan and it was not possible for the government to completely close it. The governor informed the UN mission that those who do manage to cross through non-traditional routes will be kept at refugee camps and their movement would be restricted. "We are short of water as during the last four years most parts of Balochistan did not receive enough rain which worsened the water problem in the province," he said He said that the United Nations and other international agencies will have to play their role in this regard and extend all possible help to Pakistan. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Four Afghan shells land near Chaman ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent QUETTA, Sept 30: Four shells of Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG-7) landed and exploded near border in Chaman area. The shells were allegedly fired by the Taliban militia, sources said. The border security officials while confirming firing of shells said that these were of RPG-7 calibre and these landed inside Afghanistan. However, no loss of life or other damage was reported from the other side of the border. "These were test fires and part of military exercise we have started in Afghanistan," Taliban officials told Pakistani border security officials when they talked to Taliban officials after the explosions. Taliban authorities further informed the Pakistani border security officials that Taliban militia has started exercises which would continue for some more days as they were bracing for possible US attack on Afghanistan. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Fresh summons for Benazir, others issued in ARY Gold case ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: An accountability court issued fresh summons against Benazir Bhutto and other respondents in the ARY Gold corruption case for October 15, since the earlier notices could not be served on them. The summons had been issued for Benazir Bhutto, Brig (Rtd) Aslam Hayat Qureshi, former commerce secretary, Javed Talat, former finance secretary finance, former communications secretary Salman Farooqi, ARY Gold Traders executive director Haji Abdul Razzaq; directors, Jan Mohammad, Abdul Rauf, Shahnaz Rauf and Jens Schlegelmilch. Banazir according to the prosecution, allegedly awarded monopolistic contract to ARY Gold Traders for import of gold and silver. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Court resummons witness in Wattoo corruption case ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: An accountability court summoned a prosecution witness for October 9 to provide certified documents from procurement and purchase files of an plane in a corruption reference against former Punjab chief minister Mian Manzoor Wattoo. The defence counsel, Babar Awan advocate, representing Mr Wattoo, requested the court to direct the prosecution witness, chief pilot Qaiser Saleem, to provide certain documents from the record of the case which was not available with the defence. The counsel also cross-examined the witness after which the court, headed by judge Rustam Ali Malik, adjourned the case for Oct 9. Mian Wattoo, according to the prosecution misused his authority to purchase a Beach Jet 400-A aircraft by utilizing the non- developmental funds of the Punjab government. The aircraft was allegedly purchased to favour Javaid A Zia of Air Hansen and Pak General Aviation (Pvt) (PGAL) without disposing of the earlier aircraft available with the Punjab government. He is also said to have misused his authority, as he had no powers to relax rules for which federal government's approval was needed, it said. Mr Wattoo also violated the purchase manual by relaxing all requirements for the purchase of the aircraft, the reference alleged. The prosecution said he created a fabricated emergency for the purchase of the aircraft despite the fact that a Cessna 441 aircraft was available with the provincial government on March 31, 1994 and could be utilized for three more years before it required an overhaul, costing Rs 20 million only. The price of the aircraft, according to the reference, was initially agreed at Rs165 millions but the Punjab government paid Rs226 million at the time when it was facing severe financial crisis. Since there was no budgetary approval for the purchase of a new plane, the entire funds were withdrawn from the supplementary grants, the reference alleged. The chief minister set up a fresh purchase committee, comprising Nazir Ahmad Chaudhry, the then additional chief secretary; Aminullah Chaudhry, the then finance secretary; and additional secretary transport. The committee, according to the reference, already had met on March 31, 1994 for recommending the purchase of the aircraft before a summary was presented by the chief pilot, Lt-Col (Rtd) Mohammad Saleem. The chief pilot had submitted his summary on April 1, 1994 by which the purchase committee ostensibly was to be guided. Mr Watto asked the chief pilot to submit the summary on April 1, 1994, on Friday then a weekly holiday. The reference alleged that the accused further misused his authority by increasing wasteful expenditure in obtaining luxurious accessories, including customs carpeting for the aircraft, gold fittings, world maps on club tables and special leather coverings. These items were included in the contract without presenting a proposal to the newly-constituted purchase committee, the reference said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 killed in Srinagar car bomb blast ------------------------------------------------------------------- SRINAGAR, Oct 1: At least 29 people were killed and more than 40 others injured after suicide bombers blew up a car outside occupied Kashmir's legislature. The blast damaged at least 150 buildings and street stalls around the tightly guarded legislature, including a six-storey hotel. Gunfire was heard for four hours after the attack inside the building, after two other men stormed inside and began shooting. Police said a total of 29 people died either from injuries suffered in the bombing or from the firefight. Three of the dead were suicide bombers, 19 were civilians and employees of the legislature, while seven were Indian troops and policemen. Jaish-i-Mohammad, a Mujahideen's outfit fighting Indian occupation in Kashmir, has claimed the responsibility for the blast. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 Indians released ------------------------------------------------------------------- LAHORE, Oct 1: Thirty-one Indian nationals, who were arrested for entering Pakistan illegally, were handed over to Indian authorities at Wagah. Their repatriation after eight-month detention at Machh jail in Balochistan was facilitated by the Foreign Office and the Interior Ministry in a "bid to improve relations" between the two countries. Their handing over to India was facilitated by the Foreign Office and the Interior Ministry in a "bid to improve relations" between the two countries. Authorities from both the ministries along with officials of the Indian High Commission were present at Wagah. Mr R. K. Sharma, second secretary of the Indian High Commission, was also there. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No judge available to try Asif in murder case ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent HYDERABAD, Sept 29: The inside trial of double murder case of Alam Baloch and his gunman did not begin once again due to non- availability of sessions judge Hyderabad. The DJ Hyderabad Sultan Ahmed Siddiqui has been transferred about a month ago and no one has so far replaced him. Additional sessions judge Amir Ali Thari is acting as in charge of Hyderabad district judiciary. Accused Abdul Shakoor Ansari and his brother Abdul Hafeez Ansari sent their applications to the court for condoning their absence. Accused Asif Ali Zardari has been admitted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Islamabad and his father Hakim Ali Zardari has already been exempted from attending hearing in the case by the court. Co-accused Zafar Meerani and Zanwar Ghulam Hyder were not brought to the court. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PPP man dies in NAB custody ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter LAHORE, Sept 30: Mian Arshad, an aide to detained PPP secretary- general Jehangir Badar, was allegedly tortured to death in the custody of National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the victim's son and PPP leaders claimed. However, the Punjab NAB officials immediately refuted the allegation, claiming that the deceased died of a cardiac arrest during interrogation. Mian Raees, Mian Arshad's son and a Naib Nazim told Dawn that the NAB authorities had been pressuring his father to turn approver against Mr Badar who, too, has been in the NAB custody for the last some months facing charges of corruption and misuse of authority as a federal minister. Mr Raees alleged his father had sustained four injuries; one on his left eyebrow, a head injury, one around his neck and he was profusely bleeding from nose. The body was taken to the city mortuary for autopsy. A number of party leaders and workers and relatives, fuming with anger, many of them also carrying arms reached the place shortly thereafter. A large number of police contingent was deployed there to ward off any untoward situation. Angry PPP activists and relatives surrounded the Racecourse police station later in the night and tried to set the building on fire. They were demanding registration of a murder case against the NAB officials.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY 20011002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Canada lifts sanctions ------------------------------------------------------------------- OTTAWA, Oct 1: Canada said it was lifting almost all its economic and political sanctions on Pakistan as a reward for Islamabad's decision to support a United States-led campaign against global terrorism. Foreign Minister John Manley and International Aid Minister Maria Minna said in a statement that Ottawa would also forgive up to C$447 million ($283 million) in outstanding loans on the understanding that Pakistan used the money on development projects. Only the ban on military exports will remain and existing restrictions on military sales to India will stay in place. Minna said Pakistan had 43 outstanding loans totalling C$447 million. -Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- $600m US economic support under study ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Oct 2: The United States was said to be readying a $600-million economic support program for Pakistan on which action would be taken as soon as Congress agrees to lift democracy sanctions against Pakistan. Last week, making a waiver in the democracy or Section 508 sanctions, the administration had announced an outright cash grant of $50 million for Pakistan. Presidential waiver can be exercised for a maximum of $50 million each year under Section 508. A new financial year began on Oct 1, and a further infusion of money under Section 508 can also now be made. A bill to waive Section 508 sanctions altogether is under consideration by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The outlines of what the reported new, larger aid package really means and what its exact component will be are hazy. Pakistan's immediate requirement is for assistance that can be quickly disbursed, and it will certainly be far happier with grants than with aid that goes out in the form of loans, thus adding to its debt burden. Talks have been going on directly between Washington and Islamabad and a possible US role in Pakistan's economic recovery program will be discussed again when Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz visits Washington next week. Since Pakistan's pledge of support to the US-led campaign against terror, the US has rescheduled $379 million in debt payments out of the total of $2.7 billion owed by Pakistan to America. The International Monetary Fund has meanwhile approved a $135-million loan to Pakistan as the third and final part of a $569-million standby balance-of-payments support agreement. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011005 ------------------------------------------------------------------- War risk surcharge: Pakistan likely to suffer $200m loss ------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Oct 4: Pakistan is likely to suffer a loss of nearly 200 million dollars over the next 12 months as a result of the decisions taken in the last week of September by the London-based Joint War Committee of Underwriters (JWCU) regarding war risk surcharge for ships. Knowledgeable sources here did not rule out the possibility of Pakistan taking up the matter with the British prime minister when he arrives here. He is likely to be asked to use his good offices on behalf of the 'front-line state' and make the JWCU see the serious damage its decision was going to cause to the Pakistani economy. A big portion of the expected loss, estimated roughly at about $150 million, it is feared, will be caused by the sky-rocketing war risk insurance rates, fixed by the JWCU, for ships coming to Pakistani ports. The JWCU in its late September decision has enhanced the war risk insurance rates for ships going to six countries - Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE, Syria, Yemen and Egypt. Interestingly, India is not on the list, although the distance between Karachi and Mumbai ports is very short. The highest rates have been imposed on Pakistan and Sri Lanka while the affect on Egypt is expected to be minimal as the rates for the country have been kept very low. UAE is said to have provided sovereign guarantee to all the shipping companies sailing into its ports so the increased war risk rates do not affect it at all. The rates for Syria and Yemen are said to be less than those imposed on Pakistan but higher than Egypt's. A complex formula is said to have been evolved by the JWCU for calculating the exact incidence of the rates involving the size of the cargo, the financial strength of the consignee and the size of the ship. A rough calculation, done at the official level in Pakistan, indicates that each container coming to Pakistan would carry an additional insurance premium of about $200 on an average, which would mean Pakistan would end up paying as much as $150 million by the end of the year, as during 12 months on an average 650,000 containers are shipped to Pakistan. There are two more Pakistan specific damaging elements to the decision of the JWCU. First, in order to make it doubly sure that their costly vessels do not meet any unforeseen accidents, the big time shipping companies are reportedly looking at the possibility of not sending their ships to Pakistani ports at all, which would affect the country's foreign trade immensely. Second, the profitable feeder services which Pakistan had set up between its ports and the UAE ports is being seriously threatened as Mumbai is already said to have started its feeder services to UAE. Officials in the communication ministry said that, compared to these estimated losses, the help Pakistan has so far been promised and provided by the multilateral and bilateral donors for joining the international coalition against terrorism was negligible. They recalled that even when Pakistani ports, airports and other such installations were under imminent danger of being bombed by the Soviets during the 10-year Afghan war, Pakistan was never declared a war zone area by the JWCU and it was business as usual at our ports. Why then, they wondered, had the JWCU listed Pakistan as a high war risk country now when the entire world had joined hands to seek out and destroy international terrorists who had no nationality and no face and whose ability to strike any where at any time made the entire world a high war risk area. In fact, the officials said, if there was any country which was the most protected against terrorist attacks today, it was Pakistan because not only the country itself had boosted its security capabilities since Sept 11, but the most powerful armada of ships and aircraft, belonging to the most resourceful countries, had gathered around in the close vicinity of its waters and land. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011006 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Where the rupee is going? ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sabihuddin Ghausi and the team of Business Reporters follow the trail of the vanishing rupee �Stocks have slumped �commodity markets are unattractive �banks are not reporting significant increase in money deposits �gold has lost lustre and for once people do not crave for the dollar....so KARACHI, Oct 5: Bankers, businessmen, stock brokers, financial analysts are still locked in an endless discourse to know 'why' and 'who' of the unusual phenomenon of dollars flowing in Pakistan from abroad witnessed during post September 11 period. And then there is the final question "where has the money gone?" It remains unanswered. For more than last three decades, when there were democratic, quasi democratic governments and military dictatorships in Pakistan, the flight of capital has remained a permanent feature. For some unexplained reasons money started flowing in Pakistan last month. Stocks are down, gold glittered for a while but is pale again, a total slump prevails over real estate business and then dollar started downward slide. Commodity trade in market does not show any unusual trend. The question is then: "Where is the money going?" "September 11 is now a landmark in study of finance, banking, insurance and economics," a senior executive of an insurance company remarked when asked to interpret the phenomenal fall of dollar value against Pakistan rupee late last week and early this week. Dollar fell by Rs4.55 in the inter-bank and Rs1.55 in the kerb in first two days of this week almost bridging the dollar value in inter-bank and kerb. Moral judgement and political fall-out of September 11 event apart, the insurance operator is fully convinced that the collapse of twin towers of World Trade Centre at New York and an attack on Pentagon in Washington has shattered the myth of US political and financial super power status. "Dollar will never be again what it was on September 10, 2001," is the final verdict of the insurance company executive who pointed out the international downslide of dollar after September 11 and a "coalition effort of USA and Western Europe" in the subsequent period to keep greenback afloat will never give it the status that it enjoyed hitherto.Back to the top
EDITORIALS & FEATURES 20010930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- The terrorists within ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ardeshir Cowasjee THE recent pronouncements of Sherrif George W Bush, formerly of Texas, have benefited the Karachiites. A largely attended MQM rally held in this city on September 26 was addressed by Altaf Hussain, now safely ensconced in peaceful London. He abhors terrorism in all its manifestations, or so he announced over the loud speakers to his ardent followers, and agreed that it must be eliminated wherever it may raise its ugly head. The British with, of course, our good at heart, have given him British nationality and he is now the proud holder of a British passport and a loyal subject of the Queen. Over the ocean, Langley has a file on him. He and his partymen are suspected of having been the organizers and perpetrators of the murder of the four Union Texas Americans in Karachi in November 1997. Altaf might care to start reading up on the Don Pacifico affair (1850), but he should be warned that President General Pervez Musharraf is hardly likely to send a naval squadron to blockade Britain, nor is Tony Blair a latter-day Palmerston who will speak up in the House on his behalf. To quote from the Encyclopaedia Britannica: "During his speech before the vote, he made his famous comparison between the British and Roman empires, saying that, just as a Roman could claim his rights anywhere in the world with the words 'civis romanus sum' so also a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England will protect him against injustice and wrong'." Now to more serious matters. This country now suffers from the disapproval of the powerful democrats of the world, all ignorant of the type of democracy adopted by the democrats of Pakistan, of not having a democratic government in place and we are isolated, alone and friendless. But, with the peculiar circumstances that now prevail in the world, and with Pakistan being very much in demand at the moment, we the citizens of Pakistan might take advantage of and benefit from this military rule. The Pakistan Armed Forces (Acting in Aid of the Civil Power) Ordinance, 1998 (Ordinance XII of 1998), specified in Section 3: "That the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces may convene as many courts as may be necessary to hear cases triable under this ordinance."The cases covered by the ordinance were mainly of a terrorist nature. Under the new law the investigation of all offences were to be supervised by the armed forces. The great advantage of this was that it abolished the widespread complaints emanating from both the public and the judiciary that the police investigations were defective by reason of inefficiency and corruption. Credibility was thus lent to the investigation process by the induction of the armed forces in a supervisory role. Appeals lay with appellate courts, also set up by the armed forces, which were ideally suited to try offences in cases of terrorism. Unlike civilian judges, the military judges were not identifiable in advance by terrorists or their patrons and hence were not susceptible either to inducements or to threats. These courts had no arrears of work and were able to dispose of cases promptly. And, unlike the civil anti-terrorist courts they consisted of not one judge but a panel of judges who, although not well-versed in the technicalities of criminal law, were strongly imbued with a desire to do substantial justice. Their approach was that the innocent should be acquitted and the guilty punished without their being bogged down in a quagmire of legal technicalities. In one sense, the Anglo-Saxon system in which lay jurors, innocent of any knowledge of law, decide questions of guilt and innocence, was partially introduced. The result was a series of convictions, and in many cases the innocent were acquitted either at the trial stage or at the appellate stage by the military courts. Two convicts were sentenced to death and hanged and for many months thereafter peace descended on Karachi. Then the Supreme Court stepped in. In the case of Liaquat Hussain vs. the Federation of Pakistan a nine-member bench of the Supreme Court struck down the law as being unconstitutional. The opinion of the Supreme Court was that military courts amounted to a parallel judicial system and hence this invasion of the S.C.'s authority could not be tolerated. However, the SC laid down a set of guidelines which, in its own words, "were intended to deal with the fact" and to ensure that the cases relating to terrorism should be decided within days. Paragraph 2 of the order reads: "However, we are not oblivious to the fact that terrorism in Karachi and in other parts of Pakistan has not only taken toll of thousands of innocent lives but has also affected the economy of the entire country and it is a matter of paramount importance that this menace is eliminated effectively in the shortest possible time, for which a solution be found within the framework of the Constitution." Guidelines 3 and 4 provided that the civil anti-terrorist courts should decide cases within seven days and the H.C. in appeal should decide the matter within a further seven days. Although not specifically mentioned it was clearly implied that the S.C. would also show celerity in disposing of appeals. The judgment was announced on February 17 1999. Sadly, these time periods have been honoured more in the breach than in observance. Rather than days, appeals have lingered on for months and in many cases for years. One month ago, after the chief executive publicly announced that these delays were seriously deleterious to the administration of justice and the maintenance of peace, the Chief Justice of Pakistan constituted a number of benches so as to try to expedite the appellate procedure. So far, the judiciary has not shown much success. Things have not moved. The old delays continue. American President Harry Truman famously said: "If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen; if you can't do the job, let others who can do so." The military courts are the ones that can do the job and that did do the job before they were rudely disbanded out of pique. The residents of Karachi lead a beleaguered existence, assailed by fear of violence, terrified that acts of killing invariably go unpunished. Some 70 doctors and other professionals have been assassinated with brutal and cold-blooded efficiency. Murderers convicted so far : nil. The crime of those murdered? They were Shias. Similarly, Sunnis have been assassinated. All are agreed on two critical points : firstly, both Shias and Sunnis are Muslims; secondly, the assassins in all cases are invariably Muslims. Numerous killings have been carried out in mosques Why do the police not act? They are busy pursuing the different avenues which lead to personal enrichment or public harassment. Public pronouncements that the guilty must be arrested within the week are ridiculed. Firm and decisive action is needed. An excellent beginning would be for the government to announce that the SHOs will be held responsible in case arrest and prosecution are not made within a predetermined period. In the event of failure to meet the deadline, those concerned should at the very least be transferred forthwith (to Chachro), or preferably suspended. There should be a public announcement every month listing the heinous crimes committed and the remedial action, if any, taken. The statement should be precise and detailed and should not be treated merely as the offering of a vague reassurance. Why is it that repeated assurances given to the public that the assassins of Shaukat Mirza were about to be apprehended have been found to be completely baseless? Why is it that a notable philanthropist was assassinated last week to the accompaniment of a yawning indifference by the local administration? Musharraf owes it to us, the people of Karachi, to restore the military courts and give us justice. Though an emergency may not have been declared, does it not exist? End note: I stand corrected. In last Sunday's column I wrote that Qazi Hussain Ahmad had two sons studying in the US. Asif Luqman Qazi, the eldest son, e-mailed me. Both brothers are now in Pakistan. Asif did study in US for three years, where he learnt economics and computer science. He is now an internet service provider and manages a college for computer science education and training in Lahore. Asif's sister is married to a doctor who lives and practises in the US. Learned Qazi Hussain Ahmad is the grandfather of an American-born grandson, a proud citizen of the mighty US. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011005 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Joining the international mainstream ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ayaz Amir The flaming warriors of the hard right apart, a nation sick and tired of the jihad politics of the last 20 years has welcomed with a sense of subdued relief the correct stance on Afghanistan adopted by Pakistan's present set of generals. It can scarcely be forgotten that the earlier line on Afghanistan, a line whose consequences we are now ruing, was the brainchild of an earlier set of generals. Never mind that it had to take an international crisis for Pakistan to change course and see the light about the Taliban. There is no point in quarrelling about the means if the end be correct. The Taliban were a millstone round our neck, a drag on our resources, a spreading blot on our name. By itself the military would never have changed course, so strongly was it wedded to the 'strategic-depth' notion of Afghan policy. The skies cannot be praised enough if something, anything, has caused, or rather forced, a change in this absurd thinking. A tragedy for the US, an opportunity for Pakistan. No doubt a callous conclusion but in our case not so remote from the truth. What remains is for Pakistan to cure itself of the ambition of playing the role of king-maker in Afghanistan. It is in our interest for peace and stability to return to that country so that the millions of refugees now in Pakistan can return to their homeland. But whether warlord, mullah or king rules Afghanistan is none of our business. Importing Afghan problems into our midst, and thereby encouraging the winds of fanaticism and bigotry to blow across the land, is the real threat to Pakistan, not any government in Afghanistan, whatever its colour. Times have changed even if officialdom in Pakistan has been slow to grasp this fact. A hostile Afghanistan mattered to us when Afghanistan was in the Soviet sphere of influence and many of its external policies were influenced from Moscow. Pakistan in an Indo- Afghan nutcracker with a malevolent Soviet Union in the background was very much a cold war nightmare whose relevance, if at all it had any, was eroded long ago by the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Obviously, these past 20 years we have lived in a different world, chained to a set of shibboleths that only now we are beginning to break. Even so, the change now being wrought is wrenching in many ways. For one thing, it has not come about as a result of our own thinking but forced on us from outside. For another, the champions of the old strategy are still in place and it will be some time before they fully adjust themselves to the fresh winds of change. The Taliban are not just an entity. They also stand for a way of thinking which in powerful quarters in Pakistan still holds sway. A major removing-the-cobwebs job remains to be accomplished. It goes to General Musharraf's credit, however, that he can accept new facts and ideas, and fashion his behaviour in their light. A less mentally supple leader could have fallen a martyr to his own rigidity. All the same, to begin with, when he became army chief, his ideology had GHQ stamped all over it: with all the accompanying notions of jihad, Afghan depth and the strategic space provided by our nuclear capability. That these notions have taken a battering during the two years that he has been at the helm is obvious. Under the pressure of events, the old certainty about these central governing concepts has all but disappeared. But General Musharraf has taken these developments in his stride. At one swoop, a shattering blow has been dealt our Afghan policy. In the rubble of the attacks on New York also lie buried some of the superior notions we had about our nuclear capability. Can it have escaped anyone's notice that what was billed as our greatest strength (our nuclear 'assets') turned within 24 hours of the attack on New York's Twin Towers into the greatest source of our vulnerability, with Pakistan's high priests in panic at the thought of what would happen to our nuclear assets if the US took it into its head to flatten them? Is it not a little curious that all the professors of national security who used to wax so eloquent about our nuclear capability are strangely silent during these troubling times? Putting the famed Dr Khan out to pasture was a good first. It should be followed by the next logical step of not investing more good money into a venture that has only raised our walls of insecurity instead of lowering them. While the world worries about nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands, some lingering importance still attaches to them. Five years down the line they will be as useless as Russia's rusting nuclear arsenal. If there are any takers for our 'strategic assets' (hilarious phrase) we should sell them while we still can. A write-off of Japanese debt (and the promise of some more money besides) in return for a solemn burial of our nuclear programme should not be a bad bargain. If India wants to hold fast to its nuclear trinkets, let it. Nuclear weapons are no longer a short-cut to international prestige. As for strategic considerations, India's nuclear weapons are as much based on false premises as are Pakistan's. Anyway, of the holy trinity of Pakistani national security - Kashmir, Afghanistan, nuclear weapons - all that still remains intact is the notion of jihad in Kashmir. But does anyone seriously think this will remain unaffected by current developments? As it is, the attack on the state assembly in Srinagar has caused more dismay in Pakistan than even perhaps in India because at a time when we are engaged in recasting our steps in Afghanistan, it gives India renewed opportunity to beat Pakistan with the stick of 'cross-border' terrorism. Let us hope that in Kashmir we make the right choices while the initiative is still with us, instead of waiting for the time when choices are forced down our throat, as has happened in the case of our Taliban policy. At bottom, however, the issue is more internal than external. Joining the international mainstream does not simply mean cutting links with the Taliban and keeping in step with the Americans. There was a time when there was no Taliban, no ISI forward policy in Afghanistan and we were good friends with the Americans. And yet we made a mess of our national affairs, pursuing wrong goals, worshipping false gods, and in thrall to stupid ideas. The mullah-military nexus came into existence only in the eighties. Before that there was a nexus between the military and the US. What good did that do us? What if after the breaking of the mullah- military nexus - one of the good things to flow from the present developments - we continue to mismanage our internal affairs secure in the knowledge that we now have American support and understanding to fall back upon? The main issue is putting our house in order and, for that purpose, of returning to institutional rule. Let us bear in mind the circumstance that while there is much about General Musharraf that is personally likable - a genial and easy-going dictator being better than a Franco or Pinochet specimen - he has presided over a dispensation which in almost everything it has attempted at home has struck confusion and failure. A few items in a long list: a bad economic situation made worse by ill-judged taxation measures, plunging law and order standards, the question of administrative reform and easier provision of justice not addressed at all. Furthermore, the local government initiative carried out in the name of devolution is already a disaster showpiece, sowing confusion at every step and in every district. In foreign policy General Musharraf has shown the right instincts. At home his government's performance has been singularly lack-lustre. If Pakistan is to profit from the present upturn in its fortunes, two things have to be done. Firstly, the army must define its place in national life and stick to it. It must not spread itself all over the place. Secondly, sooner rather than later, there must be a return to representative rule - minus, I hasten to add, the two cartoons who symbolized democracy during the nineties, Benazir and Nawaz Sharif. The present ad-hocism will only lead to more failures like the devolution plan. Above all, to get out of the present rut the country needs a broader canvas of governance than the corps commanders conference. Render unto the corps commanders what is theirs, the running of the army. Render unto other pontiffs the day-to-day running of the country. If, however, all that we get from the present crisis is a strengthened military government, its confidence bolstered by American support and acceptance, the nation will be left wondering what it gained by rejoining the international mainstream. Just as we now wonder what we gained from our Afghan involvement in the eighties. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011006 ------------------------------------------------------------------- A nation divided ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Irfan Husain A CRISIS unites most countries, cementing cracks and pulling people together behind the government. In Pakistan, however, the opposite has happened, with the current predicament exposing and widening many of the seismic faultlines that already existed. Every society has divisions and differences, and they usually contribute to a creative ferment; however, when they become unmanageable, they can be devastating as they erode cohesion and destabilize the government. Years of poor governance, misguided policies and disastrous leadership have created deeper and more numerous disparities and divergences than we can handle. Just how is Pakistani society divided? Let us count the ways... First and foremost, and crucially relevant to the current crisis, is the division between those angry, bearded faces the world sees on TV screens demonstrating against the US and General Musharraf, and for the Taliban, and the rest of the country that does not want to be isolated and lumped together with our benighted neighbour. Estimates of the relative strength of these two groups vary, with General Musharraf placing their numbers at "not more than 15 per cent of the population." In fact, religious parties have never won more than 5 per cent of the national vote, and have never sent over six members to the National Assembly at any one time. Nevertheless, their organization, fervour and sheer ferocity make them a formidable force. Willing to face police batons and bullets, their aggressive zeal has paralyzed and toppled governments in the past. One reason, of course, why they take to the streets at the drop of a hat in large numbers is that very few of them actually work. Unemployed and generally unemployable, these fanatical shock- troopers are increasingly armed and very dangerous. In a crude way, this schism between the holy warriors and the moderate mainstream reflects the struggle that has been going on between ultra-orthodoxy and reform in Islam for centuries. Although this split started nearly a thousand years ago, it acquired greater momentum with the defeat of Muslim forces at the hands of infidel Europeans from Vienna to Plassey. Those refusing to permit ijtihad (interpretation; reasoning) argued that the Muslims had lost favour with God because of their feeble faith, and if Islam was to regain its lost glory, it should return to the fundamentals. The reformers, on the other hand, sought to use the West's tools of education, science and reason to compete. One look at the pathetic state of the Islamic world today will indicate whose views have prevailed. Nevertheless, the tension between the two schools of thought is reflected in open or underground conflict in most Muslim nations. In Pakistan, the fissures are even more numerous and complex as Shias and Sunnis, and Barelvis and Deobandis fight it out polemically and with Kalashnikovs. Theological debate and street warfare have divided the country along sectarian faultlines. Here again, a relatively few fanatics have held the country hostage. But successive governments have tolerated (and in Zia's case, encouraged) these extremists with the result that literally hundreds of Shias have been gunned down in broad daylight without any serious action being taken against the killers. In this poisonous atmosphere of hatred and intolerance, it was inevitable that the minorities would be marginalized. Despite Mr Jinnah's promise of equality and protection to non-Muslims, they have been progressively pushed into a corner. The writing on the wall appeared when the Ahmadis were declared non-Muslim during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's rule in the seventies; Zia drove the last nail into the minorities' coffin through his deeply divisive separate electorates that prevented non-Muslims from voting for local candidates of mainstream parties. This law has effectively disenfranchised the minorities. The blasphemy law has made it possible to jail and prosecute people, usually non-Muslim, on the most frivolous grounds. The recent death sentence awarded to Dr Yunus for informing his students of the obvious truth that before the advent of Islam, Muslim practices were not followed, shows how prone this law is to abuse. Then we are divided by gender. If you go to any South Asian country, you are first struck by how many women are visible in the streets, going about their daily business. In Pakistan, on the other hand, they have been steadily incarcerated in their homes. The other day, I asked Fateh, my fisherman friend, why the women in his village did not play a more active role helping their husbands and fathers. He replied that he remembered a time when they did go out on boats, helped haul in the catch, clean the fish and salt them. But over the years, they have tended to stay home. As a kid, I too recall seeing my mother cycle off to her civil defence meetings in the early years of Pakistan. In the fifties, my girl cousins used to ride bikes to get to Kinnaird College in Lahore. This would be unthinkable today. One reason why we are so susceptible to divisive tendencies is the lack of education, with less than half the population being literate. But even the educated are divided between the vast majority that has gone through the mediocre public educational system, and the privileged minority that attended private schools and colleges, and is at home in the English language. For the unfortunate former group, most doors are shut as the top jobs in the public and private sectors are reserved for the elite that is fluent in English. Provincialism and ethnic divisions continue to undermine our unity even after 54 years of independent existence. The three smaller provinces resent the dominance of Punjab, and even within provinces, tensions divide Sindhis and Mohajirs in Sindh, Balochs and Pashtuns in Balochistan and Punjabis from the Saraiki-speaking southern belt in Punjab. Then there are over two million Afghans, many of whom were raised here and are indistinguishable from Pakistani Pashtuns, specially as they carry Pakistani ID cards and passports. Many of those currently demonstrating against the government are Afghan refugees. It goes without saying that like every other country, Pakistan is divided by class and wealth. But here, the inequalities are greater than in most other societies. From the vulgar opulence of houses in the so-called 'Defence Housing Societies' in major cities to the hovels a stone's throw away, there is a social and economic gap that no civilized society should accept or tolerate. While we are hardened to these cruel disparities, foreigners are invariably shocked by them. So when we organize and mark officially inspired 'solidarity days', we need to remember that ultimately, we are a nation divided by more elements than those that hold us together.
SPORTS 20011001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Akram faces possible three-year suspension ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter KARACHI, Sept 30: Mohammad Akram faces a three-year suspension after he deserted the Pakistan team for the Asian Test Championship match against Bangladesh played at Multan last month. According to sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) cricket operations, the suspension was recommended by a four-member disciplinary committee. Ironically, Akram's case was referred to the disciplinary committee by the PCB officials despite the fact that Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed had claimed that the paceman had left for England after securing permission from the chairman of the board. The director of the PCB, Brig Munawar Rana, as always refused to confirm or deny the report. "I can't confirm the story," he told reporters. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20011004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PCB fails to guarantee players safety ------------------------------------------------------------------- Monitoring Desk COLOMBO, Oct 3: Sri Lanka's unscheduled cricket tour to Pakistan for a three-match one-day international series was in doubt after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Sri Lanka High Commission in Pakistan failed to safeguard the safety of the players in the event of a crisis, website cricinfo.com reported. Cricket board sources said that they will be speaking to the Pakistan cricket authorities again , before arriving at a final decision. Sources said that the High Commission had stated that everything was normal in Pakistan, but they cannot guarantee if anything went wrong. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- World Cup matches were fixed, claims Sarfraz ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Sept 29: Former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz claimed at a cricket match-fixing inquiry that the result of two games at the 1999 World Cup were rigged. Sarfraz appeared before a commission headed by Justice Karamat Bhandari at the Lahore High Court and recorded a statement for two hours, registrar Kazim Ali Malik told Reuters. "He gave a lengthy statement. I can't go into the details, all I can confirm is he told the commission he believes two World Cup games were fixed," he said. The Bhandari commission was constituted by the Pakistan government last month to inquire into allegations that Pakistan's matches against Bangladesh and India in the World Cup in England were fixed. Pakistan lost both games but still qualified for the next stage of the tournament and eventually made it to the final, which they lost to Australia. The commission will also look into the conduct of Pakistani umpire Javed Akhtar when he stood in the Test match between England and South Africa at Headingley in 1998. "Nawaz had been asked by the commission to make himself available as he was the first person to raise doubts over the results of the matches," Malik said. This is the second government-level inquiry into match fixing being held in Pakistan. The first, by Justice Malik Qayyum, recommended a life ban on former captain Salim Malik and fines on Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq, all current Pakistan team members. Malik added no decision had been taken on whether former South African cricket chief Ali Bacher or former Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Majid Khan - they have supported the World Cup match-fixing allegations - would be required to record their statements before the commission.-Reuters ------------------------------------------------------------------- You can subscribe to DWS by sending an email to <subscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following text in the BODY of your message: subscribe dws To unsubscribe, send an email to <unsubscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following in the BODY of you message: unsubscribe dws ------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to the top.
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