------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 08 September 2001 Issue : 07/36 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents | National News | Business & Economy | Editorials & Features | Sports
The DAWN Wire Service (DWS) is a free weekly news-service from
Pakistan's largest English language newspaper, the daily DAWN. DWS
offers news, analysis and features of particular interest to the
Pakistani Community on the Internet.
Extracts, not exceeding 50 lines, can be used provided that this
entire header is included at the beginning of each extract.
We encourage comments & suggestions. We can be reached at:
e-mail dws-owner@dawn.com
WWW http://dawn.com/
fax +92(21) 568-3188 & 568-3801
mail DAWN Group of Newspapers
Haroon House, Karachi 74200, Pakistan
Please send all Editorials and Letters to the Editor at
letters@dawn.com
(c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 2001
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS
CONTENTS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS + Dialogue to ensure peace, says UNSC + Meeting in NY with Musharraf confirmed: Vajpayee + Normal relations linked to Kashmir: Sattar + Islamabad rejects Delhi claims + Washington allegations groundless, says Beijing + Curbs: US MPs urge fairness + New curbs on missile technology transfer + Provinces give consent to offer: ADB loan for judicial reforms + C'wealth calls for monitoring of timetable: Return to democracy + Provinces, AJK fail to implement CE's orders: Mineral exploration + FO asks British HC to revamp visa system + Benazir says she will run for premiership + No underhand deal with government, says PPP + Benazir not to be PM if PPP wins polls: Deal with govt likely + Benazir to return before polls, says PPP + PPP demands NAB chief's dismissal, trial + Ownership of artifacts yet to be established, says PPP + PPP rejects NAB allegation + Order on Benazir's plea put off till 11th + PPP denies charge against Asif + Murtaza murder case restarts after 6 months + SHC gives split order on Sajjad's petition + Sattar warns against isolation of Taliban + Foreign aid workers trial resumes today + Interstate company in the offing: Regional gas pipeline options + PHC chief justice asks govt to set up ATCs + 13 injured in three Karachi blasts --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + Revenue target cut + IMF conditionalities lead to 'coercive relationship' + IMF wants tax dept revamped + NFC has failed to work with consensus, says World Bank report + NBP to get money for NDFC + NDFC asks for funds to lay off officials + Islamabad to seek 100 items' protection + Stocks finish weekend session on mixed note --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + Justice � II Ardeshir Cowasjee + Getting smaller things right Ayaz Amir + Just say no to DoCoMo Irfan Husain ----------- SPORTS + Shahid Zaman remains unbeaten + Shock defeat for Mansoor Zaman + Shahid and Shams almost secure berths + Moin vows to win back his place + Lahore may host ATC final
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS 20010908 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dialogue to ensure peace, says UNSC ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Masood Haider UNITED NATIONS, Sept 7: The President of the United Nations Security Council, Jean-David Levitte expressed the hope that the continuation of high-level dialogue between India and Pakistan would culminate in durable peace between the two countries. Ambassador Shamshad told the President of the Security Council that Pakistan had always sought good neighbourly and tension-free relations with India on the basis of a final settlement of the Kashmir dispute which remained at the heart of all problems and conflicts in South Asia. He recalled Pakistan's consistent efforts for a meaningful and result-oriented dialogue with India and emphasized that a just and honourable settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the wishes of the people of Kashmir would usher in an era of lasting peace and stability in the region. Shamshad also apprised him of the recent India-Pakistan Summit in Agra as well as the prospects for further discussions between the leaders of the two countries when they meet in New York later this month on the sidelines of the General Assembly session. He expressed the hope that the international community in general and the Security Council in particular would encourage and support the dialogue process. Shamshad also briefed the Council President on the situation in Afghanistan. While reaffirming Pakistan's commitment to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions, the Pakistan Ambassador emphasized the need for the international community to evolve a fresh and constructive approach for dealing with the situation in Afghanistan in all its aspects rather than relying on punitive measures. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010907 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Meeting in NY with Musharraf confirmed: Vajpayee ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Jawed Naqvi NEW DELHI, Sept 6: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee emphatically distanced himself from critics of peace talks with Pakistan, reaffirming that he would indeed meet President Pervez Musharraf in New York later this month with the hope that they both could build on the dialogue they had begun in Agra. Mr Vajpayee's remarks came significantly in an address to the police and intelligence chiefs and in the presence of Home Minister Lal Krishan Advani. "Our efforts have not yielded the desired results so far. Yet, a definite step has been taken in the quest for peace. We will continue the process set in motion in Agra," Mr Vajpayee said. "It remains our hope that dialogue alone can build mutual trust and understanding and help us arrive at a negotiated settlement over various outstanding bilateral issues, including Kashmir." The premier told the police and intelligence chiefs that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir continued to cause "serious concern" and that a six-month unilateral ceasefire by New Delhi in the war- torn Himalayan region, called off before the Agra summit, had not enthused pro-freedom militant groups. "We did so in the hope that good sense will prevail among the various terrorist groups and their mentors to begin a meaningful dialogue for peace in the area," the prime minister said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010905 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Normal relations linked to Kashmir: Sattar ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Sept 4: Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar made it clear that for normal, peaceful and good neighbourly relations between Pakistan and India, the Kashmir issue should be resolved in accordance with the wishes of Kashmiris. Speaking at a news conference on his return from Durban, South Africa, where he attended the UN conference against racism, the foreign minister said that Kashmir was the core issue that had obstructed the normalization of bilateral relations. He pointed out that President Pervez Musharraf would meet Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New York on Sept 25 for talks on Kashmir. He said they would try to pick up the threads where it were left at the Agra summit and carry forward the process. The minister reiterated Pakistan's commitment to abide by the United Nations sanction against Taliban, and assured the safety of the UN monitoring teams expected to be deployed in neighbouring states. "It is the obligation of any country to provide security to foreign dignitaries, observers, and there is nothing special about it," he said. "We have been saying that we never supplied weapons to Afghanistan, but we will implement the UN resolution." KASHMIR STRUGGLE: The minister stated that it would be reasonable to say that "we do not expect the finalization of the (Agra summit) draft in New York." He, however, expressed the hope that this declaration would be consummated during Mr Vajpayee's visit to Pakistan. "In the meantime, the two leaders can decide how to proceed further." The minister made it clear that even in Agra, Pakistan never said it would only talk on Kashmir. "This was never stated by Pakistan. We are willing to talk about other issues". In fact, Mr Sattar said, in discussions at Agra both sides understood that after the conclusion of Agra declaration there would be a structured dialogue process in which there would be certain priority issues. He said the priority issues were identified as Jammu and Kashmir, peace and security, nuclear and conventional arms, confidence- building measures, drug trafficking and terrorism. There were many other issues as well, he added. The minister said that the Kashmiri freedom struggle was indigenous. In 1989, he pointed out, the Kashmiri people, frustrated by delay in the implementation of the Security Council resolutions allowing them to exercise their right to self- determination, launched the freedom struggle in occupied Kashmir. Mr Sattar said that the Indian response to this uprising was not political and peaceful, but brutal repression. He stated that over a period of time India had concentrated 700,000 police, paramilitary and military personnel in Kashmir who had let loose a reign of terror, making it impossible for the people of Kashmir to carry on their peaceful political struggle and therefore, the struggle went underground into channels of militancy. "On every grave there is a tombstone which identifies the person who is buried there and it should not be difficult for anyone to see that these people are Kashmiris from the Indian occupied Kashmir," the minister maintained. Instead of recognizing the legitimacy and the indigenous nature of the freedom struggle, India sought through its propaganda to mis- project this problem; it projects the Kashmiris as secessionists, fundamentalists and terrorists. Mr Sattar said that India had tried to exploit the prejudices that had been projected by some people in the West against Islam. He called the attempt an artificial one, saying such an attempt would die a natural death because objective observers would see and verify the facts that the struggle in Kashmir had been waged by the Kashmiri people. He stated that according to the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference, more than 75,000 Kashmiris had been killed in the freedom struggle since 1989.-Agencies DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010905 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Islamabad rejects Delhi claims ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Sept 4: Pakistan refuted Indian claims that Islamabad had given assurance at Agra that it would not raise the Kashmir issue at the international fora. In a statement, a Foreign Office spokesman described all such assertions as "pure fabrication and a figment of someone's fertile imagination." "At no stage was such an assurance given to anybody," he said. The spokesman said the Jammu and Kashmir was an internationally recognized disputed territory and Pakistan would continue to raise this issue at international fora till a resolution of the dispute in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010905 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Washington allegations groundless, says Beijing ------------------------------------------------------------------- BEIJING, Sept 4: The Chinese government on Tuesday described US accusations that a leading state enterprise exported missile technology to Pakistan as "totally groundless". "The so-called allegations are totally groundless," foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said. "As of now, I haven't heard of the official announcement (on the sanctions) from the US... (but) China all along opposes US sanctions on other countries in accordance with its domestic law," Zhu said. A spokesman at the China Metallurgical Equipment Company also vigorously denied the US accusations. "It's a completely groundless accusation. Our company's business with Pakistan is limited to metallurgical equipment and mechanical and electrical products," he said "It's all for civil use."-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010904 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Curbs: US MPs urge fairness ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Tahir Mirza WASHINGTON, Sept 3: The US Congress reconvenes after its summer break, with both Pakistan and India hoping that the Bush administration will soon seek the legislature's concurrence for lifting nuclear-related sanctions from South Asia. Pakistan's case to be treated equitably with India when the nuclear sanctions are lifted has received a boost from separate letters written to the White House by members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, representing both sides of the political divide, that ask for a "fair and balanced approach on sanctions relief for Pakistan". The letters have been written by nine senators, including Tim Johnson (Democrat) and Sam Brownback (Republican), and 15 members of the House of Representatives who include David Bonior, the Democratic chief whip in the house, and Joseph Pitts, a Republican member of the house foreign relations committee. Using more or less similar arguments and language, the letters urge that during formulation of the administration's policy towards India and Pakistan, it is "vitally important" that both nuclear powers in South Asia are treated "equally and fairly" in order to further America's non-proliferation objectives. The letters will be seen by Islamabad as to some extent diluting the politically stigmatizing effect created by Saturday's new sanctions applied to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (and a Chinese entity) for violating guidelines under the Missile Technology Control Regime. Lobbyists for Pakistan have been trying hard in the past few weeks to counter the efforts of some non-proliferationists, enthusiasts for closer US-India ties and Indian diplomats who propose keeping sanctions on Pakistan in place while lifting them from India. The New York Times advanced this view in an editorial on Aug 28, and the Pakistan ambassador here, in a letter published in the paper's correspondence on Monday, says: "You stress nuclear restraint in South Asia, but end up advocating the same double standard that is mainly responsible for the failure of all non- proliferation efforts in the region. While you urge American appeals to India to restrain its nuclear weapons program, you advise Congress to continue nuclear sanctions on Pakistan, even though you acknowledge that it was India's nuclear tests in 1998 that forced Pakistan to respond. Selective policing of the non- proliferation regime is the problem, not the solution." A selective approach is also visible in the US decision to first sanction a Chinese entity for transferring nuclear missile technology to Pakistan and then on Sunday sending out signals that while Washington did not condone Beijing's nuclear build-up, it had no way of stopping it. It was suggested that the US was willing to turn a blind eye to China's nuclear and missile program if Beijing was willing to go along with the Bush nuclear missile defence proposal. Reports suggested that the administration was attempting to dilute this impression and an official was quoted as saying if the Chinese continued with their plans for a build-up, it would have to be taken into account in America's own military planning. The letters by Congressmen backing Pakistan's case on sanctions have asked for expanded American engagement with both India and Pakistan, and expressed the hope that expeditious removal of sanctions against both nations would be part of that effort. They say sanctions discourage trade, and it is important for the US to take immediate steps to increase foreign investment and growth in the region. The National Foreign Trade Council and the National Association of Wheat Growers have also urged the administration to remove sanctions and to do so simultaneously in the case of both Pakistan and India. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- New curbs on missile technology transfer ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Sept 1: The United States announced sanctions under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) on Pakistan's National Defence Complex and a Chinese entity, China Metallurgical Equipment Corporation, on charges of collaborating on the transfer of sensitive missile technology. The State Department said the new sanctions - which follow the ones imposed on the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and the space organization Suparco last year - are under Category 2 of the MTCR that refers to transfer of missile constituent parts and technology as opposed to transfer of whole missiles under Category 1. They come in the wake of leaked intelligence reports that a shipment of Chinese missile parts to Pakistan was detected by satellite on May 1 and inconclusive talks held in Beijing last week between the US and Chinese officials. Pakistan Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, who was informed of the move in advance by the State Department, described the sanctions as "unwarranted and unjustified" and pointed out that both Pakistan and China had already denied the charges at the highest level. The ambassador stressed that Pakistan was already facing several layers of sanctions, and the new measure against one particular entity would have no effect on the country's indigenous missile defence program. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010904 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Provinces give consent to offer: ADB loan for judicial reforms ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Rafaqat Ali ISLAMABAD, Sept 3: All the provinces have agreed, in principle, that the Asian Development Bank's offer for a $130 million soft loan to bring about judicial reforms should be accepted. Federal law ministry officials told Dawn that an ADB appraisal mission had met the four governors and they had, in principle, agreed that the loan should be accepted. The provinces, however, have not communicated, in writing, to the federal government about their consent to the offer. The federal government had sought a written commitment from the provinces, for ultimately it would be the responsibility of the provinces to repay the loan. Sources said that after the opposition of all the high courts that the office of the proposed 'judicial ombudsman' should not be created, the ADB had decided that the appointment of 'administrative judge' would serve the purpose. If the ADB offer is accepted, it would be mandatory for the government to enact the 'freedom of information law' to allow citizens to have access to public information. The loan will be spent in phases on the Access to Justice Program (AJP). The main components of the AJP are judicial, police and administrative reforms. Under the AJP, more women judges would be inducted into service and within five years, their strength would be raised to 30 per cent of the total strength of the subordinate judiciary. The major component of the loan will be spent on the judicial reforms. A national body would be set up which would frame policies for the judiciary; complete the separation of judiciary from executive; introduce small cause courts and alternative dispute resolution mechanism; translate important laws into Urdu; and bring improvement in legal education. Under the AJP, emphasis would be laid on the provision of inexpensive and efficient justice. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010905 ------------------------------------------------------------------- C'wealth calls for monitoring of timetable: Return to democracy ------------------------------------------------------------------- LONDON, Sept 4: Foreign ministers from Britain and other Commonwealth countries called for monitoring of Pakistan's timetable for return to civilian rule, saying it should remain suspended from the Commonwealth until "restoration of democracy". A statement said the ministers also "expressed concern over the continuation of non-democratic government in Pakistan in violation of the Commonwealth's fundamental political values". "Ministers decided to recommend to heads of government that the Commonwealth Secretary-General should have an active monitoring role in the period leading to the restoration of democracy as announced by Gen Musharraf on Aug 14," the ministers added. They also proposed the deployment of Commonwealth observers to monitor the planned elections.-Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010903 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Provinces, AJK fail to implement CE's orders: Mineral exploration ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has reprimanded the provincial governments and the government of Azad Kashmir for non-implementation of his directives which required introduction of a regulatory regime for $1 billion mineral exploration and development. Sources in the ministry of petroleum and natural resources told Dawn that the chief executive had asked the provincial and Azad Kashmir governments on June 2, to implement within one month the National Mineral Policy. This required institutional framework at the provincial level, including establishment of a department of mining and mineral and introduction of a regulatory regime. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010905 ------------------------------------------------------------------- FO asks British HC to revamp visa system ------------------------------------------------------------------- By M. Arshad Sharif ISLAMABAD, Sept 4: Pakistan has asked the British High Commission in Islamabad to reorganize its visa service system following last week's clashes between the police and the visa seekers. Foreign Office and the capital police chief have conveyed, both verbally and in writing, to the high commission authorities to revamp their visa service system to avoid any law and order situation in future, official sources told Dawn. Deputy Superintendent Police (Foreign Missions Security), Malik Islam, told Dawn that the matter was taken up with the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the British High Commission after a law and order situation was created last week outside the high commission. He said that the CSO, refused to take responsibility for the crowd outside the embassy premises. The police official said that the matter was brought to the notice of the Foreign Office, which has asked the high commission to revamp its visa system. Meanwhile, First Secretary of the British High Commission, Mr Nicholas Cannon, blamed the local administration and visa seekers for anything happening outside the high commission. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010908 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Benazir says she will run for premiership ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Sept 7: Former prime minister Ms Benazir Bhutto said she would lead PPP in next year's federal elections with a view to becoming prime minister for a third time. "The people and party want my leadership and what goes with it - freedom and economic opportunity," Ms Bhutto told AFP in an e-mail interview from London. "I will contest the polls and will be a candidate for premiership a third time." The PPP has already nominated Ms Bhutto to lead the party in elections due in early October, 2002. Bhutto said "negotiations is the wrong word" to describe a series of talks between PPP leaders and Musharraf in recent weeks which have sparked rumours of a deal. "I believe my leadership can change the regional, political and economic situation for the better. That's why I intend contesting," she said. "The generals want a puppet prime minister that the president controls while we want a sovereign parliament and we strongly oppose the power to dismiss the premier and cabinet resting with the president." She said she wanted to see a "negotiated exit strategy (for the army) so that the transition from military rule to democracy can take place smoothly."-AFP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010907 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No underhand deal with government, says PPP ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ahmad Hasan Alvi ISLAMABAD, Sept 6: Mian Raza Rabbani Acting Secretary-General of the PPP has categorically denied press reports about an underhand deal of the PPP with the military regime based on the twin- conditions that the party would support the package of constitutional amendments now being worked out and that Benazir Bhutto would not be made the prime minister if the party returns to power. "Calculated media leaks and deliberate disinformation on the one hand and character assassination of the party chairperson in a shameless manner on the other are the ammunition used by the dirty tricks brigade of the regime to achieve its political agenda of discrediting popular public leaders and perpetuating themselves in power." "Those in the regime who think they have answers to all questions must realize that political parties and popular political leaders reside in the hearts of the masses and they can neither be commanded nor commandeered like the troops in a unit", Mian Raza Rabbani said. The acting Secretary-General said that the PPP believes that more than anybody else it is the generals, stuck as they are in a blind alley, who need a safe exit from the mess they have created for themselves, the army, the people and the country. Popular leaders of the masses and the political parties have already been so much battered unjustly that the law of diminishing returns has already come into play for the regime. He said that in the past as will now some elements, incapable of overcoming their congenital opposition to the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, have been making attempts to engineer a change of political leadership in the country. The devices employed have ranged from the eighth amendment to judicial abuse, from intimidation to blackmail and from imprisonment to downright character assassination. The unity in the party and the faith of the people of Pakistan in the leadership of Ms Bhutto has thwarted such designs in the past. "Let there be no doubt or mistake that this time around also the scheming against the people will fail". Debunking claims through calculated press leaks that the names of Aftab Shaban Meerani or Hamid Nasir Chattha, proposed by the PPP leadership for caretaker prime ministership were rejected by the regime Mian Raza Rabbani said, "neither the party authorised any such nomination nor was any response given to the PPP that the military had rejected such nominations if made by any". Mian Raza Rabbani asked the regime to disclose the names of their representatives who it is claimed met the chairperson or the vice- chairperson to convey the ruling junta's desire that the chairperson step out of politics and be replaced by the vice- chairperson. "Those elements in the regime who are playing this game of bluff to derail the process of return to democracy are doomed to fail", he said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010906 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Benazir not to be PM if PPP wins polls: Deal with govt likely ------------------------------------------------------------------- Special Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Sept 5: The Pakistan People's Party and the government are said to be negotiating a 'deal' under which the government would allow the party's unhindered participation in the next general elections in return for a guarantee that the party would cooperate with the government in its efforts to establish by October 2002 what it perceives as 'genuine' democracy. The proposed deal, if reached, is likely to entail the PPP agreeing to a number of constitutional amendments and also accepting the condition that Benazir Bhutto would not contest for the office of the leader of the house in case the PPP won the majority. The proposed PPP deal, unlike the Nawaz deal, is not expected to make the on-going corruption cases against the PPP leaders and its chairperson and her husband a part of the bargain. The cases will continue until they reach their logical conclusion with the guarantee, however, that the government would not try to influence their outcome in any way. The results of the recently held local government polls are said to have brought about a change of heart in both the military government and the PPP towards each other and nudged them into opening a dialogue for reaching an understanding on basic issues before the country embarked upon President Gen Musharraf's roadmap to democracy. The government is said to have come to appreciate the fact that unlike the PML(N) the PPP was too solidly united behind Benazir Bhutto to break up under pressure. On the other hand the PPP is said to have likewise come to appreciate the fact that continued confrontation with the military government would only delay the resumption of democratic process in the country and cause further damage to the national economy. The party leadership is said to have also realized that any attempt to seek relief for those of its leaders facing corruption cases in the bargain would not only seriously cheapen the proposed 'deal' but would also cause the party to lose its credibility like the PML(N) did after Nawaz Sharif made an out of court settlement with the regime and went into exile. The party leadership believes that given a fair chance by the courts most of its leaders facing corruption charges could prove their innocence and therefore there was no need to buy an out of court settlement and suffer the attendant political damage in the process. However, the question of who will be the next prime minister, in case the PPP won the majority in the coming election, is said to have become very vital for the regime as it has made it plain that it would not agree to Benazir Bhutto getting elected the leader of the house for the third time. The regime, therefore, wants the PPP to include in the negotiating package a short list of probable candidates for the post of PM before the deal could be signed and sealed. The PPP, on the other hand, is said to be trying to convince the regime that the party simply could not countenance entering into an election fray without Benazir Bhutto at its head as it feared that the party might even lose the elections in that case as there is no national figure other than Ms Benazir in the PPP who could present a unified national face to the voters which is what has been the strongest point of the party compared to other major parties including PML(N), PML(LM), MQM and ANP which at best are no more than regional groupings. The PPP, therefore, is said to have counter-proposed to the regime that the matter of the next prime minister be postponed until after the elections implying at the same time, however, that Benazir Bhutto in the interest of democracy would not perhaps be averse to nominating one of her party members for the post herself after the newly elected houses are convened. The regime, the sources said, does not, however, want to take any risk by allowing Benazir Bhutto to contest the elections and enter the parliament. Once inside, they fear, nobody would be able to stop her from getting elected to the coveted office for the third time. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Benazir to return before polls, says PPP ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report HYDERABAD, Sept 1: The central executive committee of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has resolved that Benazir Bhutto will return to Pakistan anytime before the general elections, provincial president of the Party, Nisar Khuhro, and the central executive member of the party, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, said while answering newsmen's questions at a local hotel. Syed Khursheed Shah said that fresh cases were being prepared against Ms Bhutto to prevent her from returning to Pakistan before the elections. He said it was often asked that the PPP was in the habit of using the Sindh card and added that his party had never done so as it believed in a strong federation. He, however, maintained that there were some elements who wanted to oust Ms Bhutto from politics to bring in some malleable leadership which, he said, would be very dangerous. The PPP leaders made it clear that the president had no right to amend the Constitution under which, they observed, it was difficult to bring about amendments even by the lawmakers themselves because two third majority of an elected parliament was required to carry out the exercise. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010906 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PPP demands NAB chief's dismissal, trial ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Sept 5: Pakistan People's Party has asked President Gen Pervez Musharraf to dismiss from the armed forces NAB Chairman Lt- Gen Maqbool and try him in a court after his confession to dealing in stolen goods. "The NAB Chairman deserves the same fate as Justice Qayyum, whose bias prejudiced the conduct of a fair trial," a PPP spokesman said in a statement and condemned the display of some personal affects by NAB to malign former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The spokesman said that the bias against the PPP and Bhutto, shown by the NAB chairman had damaged the reputation of the armed forces and made a mockery of the law. He said the former premier Nawaz Sharif, whose conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court for corruption, was pardoned and allowed to go into exile. In contrast, Benazir Bhutto whose conviction was set aside by the Supreme Court and condemned by foreign jurists as "redolent of bias" was the continued target of the anti-democratic forces, he said. Her husband was held in violation of all norms due to the bias and prejudice of Gen Khalid Maqbool, his predecessor and Farooq Adam, who had confessed to have ordered accountability courts to behave, he alleged. The spokesman alleged that if the goods belonged to Ms Bhutto, then NAB had committed a crime against the former prime minister. The spokesman said that he did not know who Paul Keating was but noted that in the Unar case a British citizen claimed before British and Pakistani authorities that he had been kidnapped by Zardari. The court threw out his allegations after it was shown that he was twice convicted and that his wife had received a plot awarded by Punjab chief minister, he said. He said that no individual called Keating was ever hired by Asif Zardari, nor had any proof of contract been produced. The PPP demanded to know how much Keating was paid to make the allegations, the spokesman said. He said the PPP hoped that the military regime would end one sided accountability and take action against members of the armed forces who broke the law. He said that people are wondering whether the accountability was only for the PPP and Pakistan Navy or it was also for the members of the army, none of whose senior members had been tried, although the army got the bulk of Pakistani budget. "In Bhutto case, a serving army officer has admitted to dealing in stolen artifacts belonging to Islam's first woman prime minister. This is a serious offence and we demand that the military regime must act to prove its fairness. We also call for an end to the one sided accountability and demand that the NAB chairman be dismissed, tried and replaced with a judge of the Supreme Court to restore impartiality to a prejudiced and poisoned process," the PPP said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010903 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ownership of artifacts yet to be established, says PPP ------------------------------------------------------------------- LONDON, Sept 2: The Pakistan People's Party has said that the ownership of the artifacts, which were found in the Surrey Mansion, has yet to be established. Referring to a claim by the Pakistan High Commission here that it had received artifacts belonging to Ms Bhutto and her husband Senator Asif Zardari, her spokesperson, Bashir Riaz, said in a statement here that the authenticity of the artifacts needed to be established. Refuting the charge, Mr Riaz said: "Whilst the Senator is in prison and his wife is in exile, their home (in Pakistan) was broken into and an investigation was held in the matter and some members of the house were dismissed. If the artefacts, indeed, belong to Ms Bhutto and Zardari, then they will be filing a criminal suit against the National Accountability Bureau for being in possession of stolen goods." Mr Riaz, however, said: "It is not known who is Keating. It is shocking that the regime could stoop so low to handle stolen goods with a view to furthering the politically-motivated trumped up charges," he said, adding "if the majesty of law is triumph then handlers of stolen goods must be proceeded against."-PPI DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PPP rejects NAB allegation ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: The Pakistan People's Party has dismissed the allegation of the National Accountability Bureau about the ownership of Rockwood House in England, linking it to the PPP leaders. In a statement issued here, a spokesman for the PPP described the allegation as motivated propaganda by desperate elements in the regime. "The Pakistan People's Party is convinced that the people of Pakistan who are politically conscious, have already rejected the motivated campaign," the spokesman said. "It is reiterated categorically that not a single document has been produced to support the allegation that the property is owned by Ms Bhutto or Mr Asif Ali Zardari. Even if the prosecution story is accepted, which Senator Zardari has repeatedly denied, the mere purchase of a house would have nothing to do with corruption," he said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Order on Benazir's plea put off till 11th ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Sept 1: Judge Muhammad Javed Alam of the AC-IV, put off announcement of order till Sept 11, 2001, earlier reserved on an application of the counsel of former premier, Benazir Bhutto, seeking her acquittal from a reference pertaining to 1,393 illegal appointments in Pakistan International Airlines, during her tenure as prime minister. Abdul Hafeez Lakho moved an application on Aug 11, 2001, before the court praying to acquit his client in the case, as there was no documentary evidence available on record against her. Besides Benazir Bhutto, the other accused booked in this reference are ex-PIA chief, Air Vice Marshall (retd) Umar Farooq; Benazir's political secretary, Naheed Khan; Director Administration PIA, Ghulam Qadir Jamote; Siraj Shamsuddin and Najamul Hasan. The court would take up the matter on the next date. -PPI DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010905 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PPP denies charge against Asif ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Sept 4: The Pakistan People's Party has demanded of the government to invite the United Nations rapporteur on torture to investigate whether Arif Baloach and Shorang Khan had not been tortured to implicate Asif Ali Zardari in a narcotics case. A statement issued by the party secretariat alleged that Arif Baloch and Shorang Khan had been tortured to prevent the course of justice to wrongly claim that narcotics proceeds were used in purchase of a property in Britain. "The regime runs away from inviting the UN rapporteurs because it knows that its flimsy charges cannot bear independent scrutiny," a PPP spokesman said. The spokesman debunked what it termed insinuations that any property owned by the Bhutto or Zardari families was brought through ill-gotten money. "Both Bhutto and Zardari belong to well- known and privileged families who conducted themselves honestly and in keeping with the law and regretted the dirty tricks to tarnish their reputations," he added. He said that those sentenced by the Supreme Court for corruption were released because they agreed to quit politics whereas those who refused to quit politics were being persecuted. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Murtaza murder case restarts after 6 months ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 1: After a pause of about six months, the trial of Mir Murtaza Bhutto murder case was restarted by the district and sessions judge, East, who fixed Oct 6 for the hearing with the production of Asif Ali Zardari, the prime accused. Judge Ali Sain Dino Matilo issued the notice to the home secretary and the Inspector General of Prisons, Sindh, to produce the spouse of the former premier, Benazir Bhutto, on the next date of hearing. The case, being tried on the premises of the Central Prison, was transferred to the district and session judge, East, after Judge Yasmin Abbasi of the Small Cause Court refused to try the case some six months ago due to the 'non-cooperation of the prosecution and defence lawyers'. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010904 ------------------------------------------------------------------- SHC gives split order on Sajjad's petition ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 3: A division bench of the Sindh High Court handed down a split judgment in the petition of a former chief justice of Pakistan, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, pertaining to his grievance with regard to pension after his removal from the office of the chief justice. The bench comprised Chief Justice of the SHC Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Zahid Kurban Alavi. While the chief justice did not provide the relief sought by Justice Shah, Justice Alavi allowed the petition. The grievance of the petitioner was that after his removal from the office of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, he was entitled to pension as CJ because he was appointed in permanent capacity for a period of three and a half years. The petitioner had prayed for declaring the restrictions contained, vide clause 9, in the impugned order of October 30, 1998 illegal, unlawful, mala fide and arbitrary. His contention was also that the respondent were neither competent nor entitled to deduct or recover an amount of Rs80,380 from his pension or his GP Fund being medical loan converted by the competent authority into medical grant. He had, among other things, also sought to declare the release of payment of pension to him per his entitlement as he had remained judge of the Supreme Court, and such payment should not be withheld on account of discrimination. In its comments the respondent had contended that the appointment of the petitioner as chief justice had been struck down by the Supreme Court and even his review petition was dismissed. Only a limited validity was granted to his acts on the basis of the defacto doctrine. He, therefore, now could not claim his pension as Chief Justice of Pakistan, which could only be done if he was held to be the dejure Chief Justice of Pakistan. Justice Alavi in his judgment held that the petitioner could not be denied pension as chief justice because as required under article 176 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court should be complete only when there was Chief Justice and so many other judges as might be determined by an Act of parliament or until so determined, as might be fixed by the president. "One cannot imagine a Supreme Court without the Chief Justice. It would be an anomaly in law if any assertion is made that there was no CJ for 3 1/2 years because CJ so appointed had by-passed some junior judges," he observed. "The case of the petitioner can be considered on the ground of discrimination as is in the case of one of the retired judges, namely, Justice Saad Saood Jan, who acted as Chief Justice. As against this the petitioner was lawfully appointed as Chief Justice of Pakistan and all his actions during the tenure have been upheld to be acts of the Chief Justice of Pakistan. His photograph is also placed in the courtroom No 1 of the Supreme Court, whereas photograph of Justice Saad Saeed Jan does no find a place in that courtroom." Justice Alavi held that "the grant of pension to Mr Justice Saad Saood Jan as a retired Chief Justice of Pakistan and denial of pension to the petitioner as CJP would, therefore, be highly discriminatory and unconstitutional." While allowing the petition he also directed the respondent to release the pension and other benefits of the petitioner without any delay. The Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, did not agree with the observations and conclusions arrived at by Justice Alavi, and referred to the order of the Quetta Bench and another bench of the Supreme Court, the cumulative effect of which was that the appointment of the petitioner as Chief Justice of Pakistan was held to be unconstitutional, illegal and contrary to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of the Al Jihad Trust vs the Federation of Pakistan. Accordingly the same was declared invalid, unconstitutional, and it was also held that orders passed by the petitioner on or after 26. 11. 1997 in his capacity as CJ were without lawful authority and of no legal effect, the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court observed. With regard to the comparison of Justice Saad Saood Jan, he observed that one of the reasons which weighed with the government in allowing pensionary and retiring benefits to him was that he was appointed CJP and had not been superseded by the appointment of the petitioner as CJ, then he would have retired as Chief Justice of Pakistan. Such could not be said of the petitioner as he, at the time of his retirement, was not the CJ, observed Justice Ashhad. After taking into consideration various arguments, Justice Ashhad differed with Justice Alavi, and held that the petitioner "is entitled to the relief or being allowed the pensionary and retiring benefits as the Chief Justice. He will, however, be entitled to the benefit of extra pension at the rate of five per cent of the salary of the Chief Justice which he had drawn during the period he performed the duties and worked as Chief Justice." Syed Zaki Mohammed, DAG, represented the government. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010908 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sattar warns against isolation of Taliban ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Sept 7: The Taliban should be engaged rather than shunned if the world community wants to help bring peace and stability to Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Abdus sattar said. "They (Afghans) jealously guard their own independence, and they will, therefore, resent any interference or intervention in their affairs," Abdul Sattar said in an interview with Reuters Television. "It has been our view that a policy of engagement with the government of Afghanistan is better than a policy that seeks to isolate them and push them against a wall," he added. Mr Sattar said it was wrong to assume that Pakistan had any influence with the Taliban. He also said the sanctions were flawed because the arms embargo did not apply to the Northern Alliance, commanded by Ahmad Shah Masood. "The sanctions that are imposed are one-sided...This policy needs to be reviewed in our view so that it is both a constraint and an incentive for all parties within Afghanistan to engage in peaceful settlements."-Reuters DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010908 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Foreign aid workers trial resumes today ------------------------------------------------------------------- KABUL, Sept 7: The trial of eight foreign aid workers detained in Afghanistan on charges of preaching Christianity went into recess for a weekly holiday, prolonging the agonizing wait for families and diplomats. The Supreme Court is due to resume the trial behind closed doors on Saturday but it is still unclear when the two Americans, two Australians and four Germans will be asked to appear. They have not been officially informed of the proceedings, which began on Tuesday, or given legal representation to help defend themselves against charges which may carry a maximum penalty of death. The diplomats and family members were holed up at a United Nations guesthouse in Kabul, while government offices were closed. US CALL: Washington issued a new call on the Taliban to permit legal representation and provide interpreters for the aid workers. US Ambassador to Pakistan Wendy Chamberlin joined her counterparts from Australia and Germany in making the request, which has been a consistent US demand, by letter. "The letter asked for a commitment from the Taliban that the detainees would have legal representation and interpreters at the trial and that consular access would be resumed," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. "So far there's been no response." Diplomats said the relatives, parents of the two American women and a cousin of the Australian man, were allowed to meet the prisoners at an undisclosed location on Thursday. "The parents held an hour- long meeting with their daughters and also saw other detainees and passed on to them whatever they knew about the beginning of the trial," US consul David Donahue told AFP on Friday. United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan Francesc Vendrell on Thursday met Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister Abdul Jalil and requested the prisoners be allowed more frequent visits from doctors and relatives, UN officials said. Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Mutawakel said the foreigners would appear in court during the "second phase" of the trial, when diplomats, relatives and journalists would also be allowed to attend. But Taliban Chief Justice Mawlawi Noor Mohammad Saqib told state-run Radio Shariat that no decision had been taken regarding permission for diplomats to observe the trial. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010904 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Interstate company in the offing: Regional gas pipeline options ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Sept 3: Pakistan has decided to formally launch an independent Interstate Gas Company Limited (IGCL) with a full-time chief executive and other professionals to actively pursue regional pipeline options for gas imports. Official sources told Dawn that the company has already been registered under the Companies Ordinance of 1984 and the government was in the process of inducting a full-time managing director and his team from the private sector. With an authorized capital of Rs10 million, the IGCL would be owned by two gas utilities - Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) - on the basis of 51 and 49 per cent shareholding respectively. The company's head office would be in Islamabad and would carry out all gas-related activities like import, export, sale, processing, purifying, buying storing supplying, transportation and transmission of natural gas for any purpose, including lighting, heating, motive power, power generation or any other related activity. Pakistan expected natural gas shortfalls of more than 500 MMCFD (million cubic feet per day) by the year 2005-06 and had taken in hand four multi-billion dollar gas pipeline options that could pass through its territories to India. These included import projects from Iran, Qatar, Turkmenistan and the UAE. Iran has been very actively pursuing the US$3.2 billion trans- Pakistan gas pipeline from Iran to India. Pakistan could earn over US$500 million every year or around US$14 billion in around 30-year period besides other savings through cheaper gas use instead of fuel oil. Pakistan, having issued full assurances to Iran for the project, would like to pursue Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline as a "Peace Pipeline", for greater peace in the region, a government official said. India has already agreed to the joint commissioning and financing of the feasibility study relating to the overland route through Pakistan, these sources said, though it wanted further guarantees. The 2,670km pipeline that is to run 1,115km in Iran, 700km in Pakistan and 850 km in India, with a capacity of 3,260 MMCFD. Pakistan has also received a draft agreement from Sharjah- based Crescent Petroleum to lay a 1,610km Qatar-Pakistan Gas Pipeline at an estimated cost of US$3.2 billion and is currently evaluating the draft. Pakistan and Crescent signed a revised memorandum of understanding (MoU) last year for laying 1,610km 44 inch dia pipeline offshore along the Iran-Pakistan coastal line upto Jiwani, near Karachi to transport 1.6 BCF (billion cubic feet) natural gas. Under the MoU, Crescent was required to submit a formal proposal before July 2001 to the petroleum ministry in Islamabad as it indicated to gas off-take of 1,000 MMCFD from the year 2005 onward. The consortium of Crescent, Total, Trans-Canada Pipelines Limited and Brown & Roots International had failed in the mid-90s to sign a formal agreement with Pakistan due to a deadlock with Qatar Gas Petroleum Corporation (QGPC) over gas pricing. Market sources here said that Crescent has since been able to bring QGPC at a price level; it now seems all parties would benefit. Although, nothing has so far been disclosed about the gas price, Pakistan wanted it to be in the range it had earlier agreed upon with the CENTGAS consortium for Turkmenistan-Pakistan Pipeline. Under the CENTGAS MOU, the price of gas for delivery at Multan was agreed at 75 per cent of the border price of fuel oil but not less than US$1.65 per MMBTU and not more than US$2.05 per MMBTU. The pipeline gas tariff, proposed by Iran for trans-Pakistan gas pipeline to India, starts from US$0.80 to US$1.60 per MMBTU in Iran, going upto US$1.48 to US$2.28 per MMBTU in Pakistan and reach US$2.26 to US$3.06 per MMBTU in India. The import of gas from Turkmenistan seemed slim in view of the continued unrest in neighbouring Afghanistan. The UAE-based Offset Group (UOG) that was now pursuing a multi- billion dollar Dolphin project in the Gulf states had also offered Pakistan to extend a pipeline from somewhere near Dubai. However, a serious proposal was still awaited. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PHC chief justice asks govt to set up ATCs ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report PESHAWAR, Sept 1: The Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court, Mr Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza, has asked the provincial government to establish anti-terrorism courts under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, in the province. The chief justice said that after the latest amendments to the ATA, 1997, it had become legally imperative on the government to establish special courts under the said law. He added that for the time being at least seven special courts, one each at the headquarters of the erstwhile divisions, should be established. Till now in the NWFP the respective district and sessions judges have been enjoying powers of special courts under the Suppression of Terrorist Activities (Special Courts) Act, 1975, and no separate special courts have been established under the ATA 1997. The ATA courts have only been functioning in Punjab and Sindh. According to an official handout, the chief justice also asked the government to enhance the number of judicial officers to effectively cope with the situation emerging in the wake of the introduction of the new system after Aug 14. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010906 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 injured in three Karachi blasts ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 5: Thirteen people were injured in three separate blasts, two of them critically, in Saddar and Jamshed Quarters. The first explosion occurred in a minibus carrying some 20 passengers. Ten of them were injured in the blast. Three others were injured when a firecracker exploded near Saddar Dawakhana, the police said. The injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. The doctors described the conditions of the two patients as critical.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY 20010907 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Revenue target cut ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Sept 6: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz confirmed a Rs13.7 billion reduction in the current year's revenue target and hinted at fresh adjustments to maintain the budget deficit at 4.9 per cent of the GDP. The minister told a press conference that the revenue target had been decreased to Rs444 billion from the original Rs457.7 billion but, he added, the development budget and the fiscal deficit would remain the same. The revision, he said, had to be made due to "re-analysis" of the base. However, he explained that while the base figures were the same, adjustments had been made in the overall targets. There would be no cut in the social sector allocations, he assured. The minister pointed out that there was a lot of room for an increase in the non-CBR revenue and for reduction in the non- essential expenditure. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010908 ------------------------------------------------------------------- IMF conditionalities lead to 'coercive relationship' ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Jawaid Bokhari KARACHI, Sept 7: Pakistan has been initiated into an informal dialogue with the IMF as part of the Fund's worldwide consultations to adjust its increasing conditionalities to 'new realities'. The informal dialogue was kick started in London by the Governor, State Bank, Dr Ishrat Husain at a seminar organized jointly by the IMF, World Bank and the Commonwealth Secretariat recently. The topic of the seminar was: "Conditionality and Ownership" of the IMF supported program. In case of Pakistan, the IMF has shifted its strategy from policy guidance to micro managing both the State Bank and Ministry of Finance, indicating complete lack of confidence in the ability of the authorities to deliver. This is straining the administrative capacity of the two entities, a source, close to the Ministry of Finance in Islamabad, said. To quote Dr Ishrat: "The distortions caused by such acute micromanagement by the IMF are quite severe, and, paradoxically, they retard the progress in meeting performance criteria." At least two more seminars, in addition to the ones held in Europe, are on agenda of the IMF to provide opportunity for country officials, academic experts, representatives of international organizations, donor groups and NGOs to contribute to IMF review of conditionalities. These are planned for the second half of this year, and may be conducted on the internet from IMF office in Washington. Dr Ishrat Husain told the seminar: "the IMF specified conditionalities" lead to "mistrust" and "coercive relationship." Whereas for ownership, he said, this kind of relationship should give way to a continuous and collaborative relationship in which the policy dialogue guides the process of conditionality design and specification. He was invited by the organizers to address the seminar in his individual capacity as an economist and scholar. The IMF is addressing concerns that the Fund supported programs often short-circuit national decision-making process and fail to recognize the authorities ability to enlist public support for program envisaged and administrative capacity to implement policies. The IMF directors want to avoid "ill-focused or unduly intrusive conditionality that could detract from ownership," says an IMF report. Excessively broad and detailed conditionality has raised a number of issues, says the IMF report, and "may undermine the national ownership of a policy program, which is essential for successful program." Until 1980s, policy conditions were primarily limited to macroeconomic variables such as domestic credit creation and fiscal deficit. But starting in late 1980s, there was a broadening of the scope of conditionality. The Fund conditionality came increasingly to be attached to structural reforms, including those intended to strengthen the financial institutions, to build a sound financial sector and to increase the efficiency of the economy. The current IMF managing director is giving high priority to streamlining and focusing the IMF conditionality and strengthening national ownership. The stated aim is to leave the maximum possible scope for countries to make their own policy choices. Economists feel that the IMF does not have a complete picture of Pakistan's economic problems, and is still imposing theoretical solutions. IMF prescriptions suffer from inconsistency. For example, poverty reduction and strong economic growth are to be achieved under a strict stabilization program under PRGF. Interim steps like rescheduling Pakistan's external debt and balance of payments support from IFIs are short-term measures that are not tackling the structural imbalances. The country is barely managing current account convertibility and a market- driven exchange rate. Furthermore, meeting quarterly targets remains the primary preoccupation, and, virtually, does not allow economic managers enough time and fiscal space to focus on the real problems. Addressing the English Speaking Union on July 5 with particular reference to SBA, the State Bank governor observed: "The timing, sequencing and phase of these reforms were not necessarily those the Pakistani authorities would have preferred, had they complete say in the matter." He adds: "Once we have attained the stage where our fiscal and external accounts are no longer in such a state of chronic imbalances, as they are today, we will be able to attain our economic sovereignty." At the London seminar Dr Ishrat candidly told the participants: "The IMF enjoys excessive concentration of power and has a virtual monopoly of knowledge and ideas in prescribing as to what are the right policies a country ought to follow. It has disproportionately large influence on financing provided by other players - development banks, fund managers, debt relief by Paris and London Clubs and syndicate lending by commercial banks." "A negative assessment by the IMF or even a failure to complete review on time places the reputational capital of the borrowing country at great risk, erodes its creditability in the financial markets and reduces financial flows into the country. There are instances where this created a snowball effect amplifying the disequilibrium in macro-economic balances as the IMF and other financiers collectively withheld their assistance." Dr Ishrat cautions: "Monopoly of any kind is undesirable and therefore the monopoly of prescribed policies and economic ideas by the IMF combined with the helplessness of the borrowing country is harmful and inimical to a sustained and mutually beneficial relationship." Dwelling on the experiences of borrowing countries Dr Ishrat said: "the more constraints are placed on the degrees of freedom and action of authorities and the more their hands are tied, the higher is the probability of failure, deviations and slippages." The IMF move to streamline its conditionality, some IMF directors have stressed, should aim at ensuring that conditionalities are appropriately targeted in the light of circumstances in the borrowing country. In a world of volatile global capital markets and a weakening international financial system, it has become difficult to specify macroeconomic performance criteria for more than a brief period and a review of the IMF program and conditionality has become inevitable, say IMF researchers. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010904 ------------------------------------------------------------------- IMF wants tax dept revamped ------------------------------------------------------------------- By A Reporter ISLAMABAD, Sept 3: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended to the government to discard the existing circle management system in the income tax department and replace it with the functional based system for the facilitation of the taxpayers. Under the new system, the existing five regions including the corporate region, be constituted as the nuclei of the organization, management and systems of the reformed income tax organization. Each would be headed by a regional commissioner, responsible for all operational aspects of the administration of income tax in the region, official sources told Dawn. Under each RCIT, there would be six divisions headed by CITs, which include Management Information System; Operations and Audit; Survey and Research; Customer Service, enforcement and collection and inspection and internal audit. The IMF officials, however, appreciated the existing system of Sales Tax, but they recommended to the government for revamping of customs procedures and their simplification, they said. The IMF team also endorsed the recommendations of the task force of raising the pay scale of the employees of tax administration, however, it was not yet decided that how much raise will be given, the sources said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010906 ------------------------------------------------------------------- NFC has failed to work with consensus, says World Bank report ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Sabihuddin Ghausi KARACHI, Sept 5: A World Bank-sponsored study has found the functioning of the National Finance Commission "less by consensus than by the federal government's power to prevail over the provinces. This is an unhealthy situation," the report has made observation about the functioning and the award given by the 1996 NFC. The report has been prepared by Dr Arshad Zaman, a well-known economic and financial consultant who was chief economist a few years ago. He was assigned the "Sindh-fiscal resource study" by the World Bank in which he pleads "an effort should, therefore, be made to evolve a more consensual decision through the NFC process." The NFC is holding its second meeting when Sindh is under tremendous financial strain. In July, the federal government was reported to have arbitrarily deducted at source Rs1 billion from Sindh's share in federal taxes. The deduction was made on a demand of WAPDA. Such a deduction is against the 1996 NFC award which clearly stipulates the drawing up of a new procedure "instead of at source deductions". The provision was incorporated in the award to save Sindh from the excessive and presumptive billing by WAPDA. A former Supreme Court judge arbitrated in the matter and gave a verdict against the WAPDA's demand. But a hand-picked Sindh administration has surrendered. Also, the federal government is not providing the promised share of 2.5 per cent sales tax collection to Sindh. In 1999, when octroi and Zila tax was abolished, it was substituted by the levy of additional sales tax of 2.5pc. The rate of sales tax was increased from 12.5pc to 15pc. The federal government had promised to keep this collection of additional 2.5pc sales tax in a separate account from where the losses suffered by the provinces on account of the abolition of octroi and Zila tax had to be compensated. Since Sindh was the biggest generator of sales tax, it is also the biggest loser. The federal government cut down compensatory allocation to the province with the result that the staff of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and other local bodies are not getting their salaries. In 1996 too, a military-backed caretaker setup had inflicted same financial scars on Sindh. The then prime minister, Malik Meraj Khalid, also held the portfolio of finance but the powers were actually exercised by a World Bank wizard who was adviser to the government. He constituted a NFC which finalized the resource distribution award between the federation and the provinces, and among the provinces within a few weeks. Then the provincial administrations were hand-picked. The Sindh representatives moaned and groaned on the unjust and unfair award, but could not help putting their signatures on it. The 1996 award was based on deceptive and highly inflated revenue collection figures. According to these projections, total tax collections in the current year should be about Rs830 billion. They indicated total tax collection of Rs427 billion in 1997-98, Rs504 billion in 1998-99 and Rs702 billion in the last fiscal year. But the fact is that the total tax collection during the last fiscal year was hardly Rs380 billion which is even nowhere near the 1997-98 projections. Officials say the actual allocation to Sindh during the last five years was almost Rs60 billion less than promised by the 1996 NFC award. The Sindh administration has apparently reconciled with this situation and is pursuing a three-pronged approach. It has drastically cut down the expenditure, current as well as development. Hardly development funds worth Rs3 billion was released last year and situation is almost the same in the current fiscal. Current expenditures were restricted to payment of salaries and pensions. Maintenance of stocks has suffered a lot. Government buildings are in a bad shape. There is hardly any stationery worth the name in government offices. Machines and computers remain unrepaired for months and years. It has affected the efficiency of the government offices. Secondly, the Sindh government is relying heavily on the provincial revenue base. Urban population is a virtual hostage. People in Karachi are being asked to pay almost twice the property tax, a higher motor vehicle tax, infrastructure fee is being collected from importers, and the net of stamp duty is being widened. The per capita provincial tax incidence has suddenly gone up in Sindh by at least 60 to 70pc. Thirdly, the Privatization Commission is eying the vast real estate in Karachi and Hyderabad. Reports suggest that the PC has set up its office and is recruiting staff for the purpose. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- NBP to get money for NDFC ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Jawaid Bokhari KARACHI, Sept 1: The government is planning to give a Rs16.5 billion grant to the National Bank of Pakistan to compensate it for the losses it is set to incur on account of its merger with the NDFC. The NDFC's balance sheet has a hole of Rs16.5 billion which would be passed on to the NBP when the former is merged with the latter. The government loans and deposits stuck up with the NDFC amount to about Rs14-15 billion. Official sources said the grant would come in the form of write-off of government loans to the NDFC amounting to Rs4-5 billion and deposits amounting to Rs11 billion. The difference between write- off amount and the total losses may be adjusted with budgetary allocation. With the liquidation of the NDFC, the government officials say the write-off would be a mere book entry. Such a decision would also facilitate return of money to individual and institutional depositors in the private sector. The liquidation of NDFC was one of the pre-conditions for a $300 million World Bank loan for structural reforms in the banking system. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010905 ------------------------------------------------------------------- NDFC asks for funds to lay off officials ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 4: The National Development Finance Corporation, now in the process of being merged with the NBP, has asked for money from the ministry of finance to make severance pay to 800 employees. After approving the scheme of payment, the ministry will advise the State Bank to release the funds and adjust the amount as part of the $300 million World Bank loan for banking sector reforms. Senior NDFC officials say the corporation may get money within this month but they are not sure about the amount. Initially the NDFC had asked for Rs1.4 billion to finance the payment scheme, but as the ministry wants some changes in its costing the final amount could be different. That will depend on which parts of the proposed pay scheme are approved by the ministry. The NDFC employees say they are expecting to get a generous golden handshake like the one offered to Habib Bank employees who opted for voluntary separation. But sources close to the ministry of finance said the NDFC employees are not going to get a voluntary separation scheme. "They will get severance pay...and as the term suggests it should be much less generous than a golden handshake." The World Bank loan for banking sector reforms is yet to come, but Pakistan has already taken several steps to meet the 'ifs' and 'buts' attached to it. A key condition is closure of commercially unviable financial institutions including the NDFC and privatization of state-run banks. Last month, the government first placed a six-month moratorium on the NDFC operations and later on the State Bank announced that the corporation was being merged with the NBP. The merger announcement said that the NDFC employees will get severance pay admissible under the rules. Since the merger announcement came along with the news that small investors of the NDFC were being allowed to make limited withdrawals, it raised the hopes that the NDFC employees might get a fair treatment. That explains why the employees union has so far made no hue and cry over the issue. But President of NDFC CBA Syed Nasir Ali on Tuesday urged the government to finalize the severance pay issue at the earliest. "You call it severance pay or whatever...we are expecting a financial package that we have negotiated with the management," he said when reached by Dawn over telephone. Officials say once the employees get severance pay it will set the stage for the NDFC-NBP merger that has to be completed within six months. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010903 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Islamabad to seek 100 items' protection ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: Pakistan will submit in November a list of over 100 items to the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it wanted to protect from trade liberalization on the pretext of national and geographical identification. Commerce ministry sources told Dawn that the list of such items was in the process of compilation in a coordinated effort across the country through provincial governments, cultural organizations, non-governmental organizations and various regional forums. These sources said protections to these geographical indicators would be provided through "Geographical Indicators Ordinance, 2001," under the international copyrights and patent laws. The law would be put in place before the end of October because the list will then be submitted to the WTO during the Doha ministerial moot in November. Pakistan and India were currently working simultaneously on a similar law because the law would have the provision of sharing the identification of the items like Basmati rice and Alphanso mango which have their origin in both the countries, the sources said. The two sides have already agreed to counter repeated moves by Ricetech of USA to sell Basmati by artificially adding the aroma to it. Businessmen and commerce ministries in the two countries believed that they could lose billions of dollars in foreign exchange in view of export decline like in Basmati, a product farmers in the subcontinent produced for centuries. The two countries have now decided to make efforts that Basmati and other geographical items were internationally accepted as geographical indicators and no one outside the region was allowed to use their trademark name or product. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010908 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Stocks finish weekend session on mixed note ------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Reporter KARACHI, Sept 7: Stocks finished the weekend session on a mixed note. The weakness of the textile and investment sectors weighed heavily against the sentiment though its total negative impact was partially neutralized by the improved performance of the blue chip counters, notably the pharma shares amid market talk of official permission to raise drug prices. Both Abbott Lab and Aventis Pharma, which rose by Rs.5.00 and Rs.3.55 respectively followed by Knoll were leading among them. A good part of short-covering was also confined to the energy shares where both Pakistan Refinery and National Refinery were traded actively on the higher side. The KSE 100-share index rose by 1.18 points to close at 1,246.80 as compared to 1,245.62 a day earlier as both PTCL and Hub-Power, having 45 per cent weightage in it, maintained their recovery trend. Echoes of the National Development Finance Corporation (NDFC) collapse and its merger with the National Bank were heard in the market for the first time after about a week but there was no negative comment from the analysts as small depositors are allowed to withdraw their money. Minus signs managed to hold a modest edge over the plus ones but most of the fall were fractional with the exception of Wyeth Pakistan, which eroded a good part of gains netted during the last couple of weeks, off Rs16.00. Other losers were led by Hussein Industries, Ellcot Textiles, Bilal Fibre, Glaxo- Wellcome, Pakistan Oil Fields, Lakson Tobacco and New Jubilee Insurance, falling by one rupee to Rs.2.85. Atlas Honda, Lever Brothers,Millat Tractors, Abbas Engineering, Pakistan Refinery and National Refinery were among the other good gainers, which posted gains ranging from one rupee to Rs.2.00. Trading volume was maintained at the overnight level of 42m shares but losers managed to force a modest edge over the gainers at 74 to 62, out of the 180 actives. Hub-Power topped the list of most actives, firm by five paisa at Rs.15.90 on 16m shares followed by PTCL also up five paisa at Rs.15.60 on 10m shares, PSO, higher 10 paisa at Rs.129.60 on 4m shares, Adamjee Insurance, off 75 paisa at Rs.31.50 also on 4m shares and WorldCall Payphones, higher 40 paisa at Rs.13.85 on 3m shares. Other actives were led by MCB, firm by five paisa at Rs.23.00 on 1.483m shares, Knoll Pharma, up Rs.4.20 on 1.030m shares, Telecard, lower 40 paisa on 0.712m shares, FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, easy five paisa on 0.647m shares, and Nishat Mills, lower 10 paisa on 0.321m shares. FORWARD COUNTER: Trading on this counter was featured by a bullish hella in hereto inactive Ibrahim Fibre, which rose by Rs.1.75 at Rs.14.00 on 500 shares. Trading in its shares was temporarily suspended to settle the dues as the rise was above the daily ceiling rate of Rs.1.50 or 7.5 per cent. Hub-Power was, however, an exception, which rose further by five paisa at Rs.16.05 on 1.438m shares, remaining the most active issue. MCB followed it, easy, five paisa at Rs.22.00 on 0.842m shares and PTCL, also off by the same amount at Rs. 15.65 on 0.813m shares. Others were ended on a mixed note. DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Crescent Board led the list of most actives, sharply higher by Rs.1.15 at Rs.3.00 on 27,000 shares apparently on insider buying followed by Apex Fabrics and Colony Textiles, up 20 paisa and lower 15 paisa at Rs.0.45 and Rs9.10 respectively on 2,000 shares each.Back to the top
EDITORIALS & FEATURES 20010902 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Justice - II ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ardeshir Cowasjee "The first duty of a government is to maintain law and order so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the state," said Mohammad Ali Jinnah on August 11 1947. Thousands may exclaim, "Does the man not know that Jinnah's Pakistan died with him one year later?" The chehlum of Shaukat Raza Mirza, so brutally murdered, was held two days ago. During the period since he was killed, there has been speculation as to the reason. Half of officialdom maintains that it was on account of his being a high-profile Shia high executive; the other half says it was because he was doing too good a job heading the Pakistan State Oil, the premier oil company of this country and had unearthed humongous scams. He was gunned down in broad daylight, in the middle of a public thoroughfare. His murderers have not yet been identified or found and brought to justice. During this past week two Shia surgeons have closed their clinics and are going abroad, taking with them their knowledge in their heads and hands, and justifiably so as they do not wish to be killed merely because they happen to be Shias. So much for life in Pakistan. My first column on justice dealt with life. We now deal with property. Again, I say, lest someone should hasten to deem otherwise, I am not writing this column in this newspaper of record with any intent to commit contempt of the chief justice of Pakistan, or of any other honourable justice of the Supreme Court, or of any other court of Pakistan. The chief justice of China visited Islamabad this summer. During his discussions with our own chief justice, Justice Irshad Hasan Khan, Justice Khan expressed a desire to visit China and meet other Chinese judges of the superior courts and explain how well Justice was dispensed in Pakistan. The inscrutable Chinese, ever wanting to learn, have now invited him to visit his country. Justice Khan is leaving for Beijing on September 3 for a ten-day visit, and so that other judges may also not only benefit from the Chinese experience but aid him in expounding how our justice system works. He is taking with him Supreme Court Justices Sheikh Riaz Ahmed, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Qazi Mohammad Farooq, Syed Deedar Hussain Shah, law secretary Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokar and secretary of the Law Commission Justice Faqir Hussain. They should all be back with us by Monday, September 17, so that the Supreme Court will be fully functional again, having reconvened on September 5 following its three months summer vacation. The cause of justice in Pakistan will suffer for a fortnight and the visit will cost our exchequer some million rupees, and the Chinese some more millions - all worthwhile taking into account the benefits to be had by the Chinese and our own judges. All for the better. In China they may meet a pupil of the Great Master who may convey to our men one of the foremost thoughts of their old Sage : "He who knows what he knows, and knows what he knows not, is the one who knows" Now to property, and a tale which should neither shock nor surprise anyone familiar with the administration of justice in Pakistan. My grandfather, Fakirjee Cowasjee, held and possessed what the family considered to be among the best properties of Karachi - a rectangular plot admeasuring some 8,500 square yards of prime vacant land situated in the centre of the city, to the west of where the Marriot Hotel and the American consulate now stand. In 1939, soon after war was declared in Europe and before his plans to develop the plot could be executed, he died. The British government requisitioned the property for the duration of World War II and some temporary structures were constructed on it. After the war, the British asked for time to wind up their affairs and before they could derequisition it, Karachi became the capital of Pakistan and the land was requisitioned by the government of Pakistan. It remained so until 1985 when it was acquired by the government. We claimed compensation, as provided for in law, Rs 6,000 per sq yd, the requisitioning commissioner awarded us Rs.3,000 per sq yd. The government has so far paid us Rs.1,100 per square yard. We appealed, we filed a reference in the High Court. In the meantime my father Rustom died at the age of 91 in 1992. The matter is still pending settlement. When it is decided the loser will file an appeal before a division bench of the High Court, and when that is decided a further appeal will be made to the Supreme Court. My brothers and I are now in our mid-seventies, and the eldest of the next generation is 50. By the time the case is finally decided the fourth generation may also have departed to meet their maker. Seventy years? What happens elsewhere? Say, in London, under the British system of justice? Let's take a case involving the Mians of Lahore - Shahbaz Sharif, Mohammad Sharif and Abbas Sharif - and the Hudaibiya Paper Mills Limited, who borrowed millions of dollars from Investment Funds Limited, a concern operated by Al-Tawfik Company, and in true Pakistani fashion did not repay it. Al-Tawfik went to court in London. On September 4, 1998, a master of the court, Master Rose, served an order on Hudaibiya and the Mians, who then filed an application before Justice Buckley of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England, seeking that the order and service of proceedings be set aside. On February 5, 1999, the judge wrote a one-page order refusing the application. On March 16, 1999, the court delivered its judgment ordering the Mians to repay the loan. It was not repaid by November 5, 1999, on which date Master Trench by a one-page order had the London properties of the Mians attached. The Mians then decided to pay up and a 'consent order' was signed by the lawyers of the two parties on January 25, 2000. The entire matter was settled within 16 months. Again, in London. In the Court of Appeal, on July 29 and 30 1983 Lord Justice Ackner and Justice Oliver sat to hear an appeal in the matter of Continental Grain Co. of the USA versus Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and Government Trading Corporation of Iran. The opening paragraph of the judgment written by Lord Ackner reads: "There is a risk that the Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal are providing too good a service for litigants. Last Thursday at 8 am Mr Justice Parker sat to deal with the interlocutory proceedings which are the subject matter of this appeal. An indication was given on Friday morning that it was desired to appeal, Friday being the last day of term. The work of that day having been completed in separate courts by myself and Lord Justice Oliver, we began again at 2.15 to consider this case, which was said to be likey to last three hours. We sat again at 10 o'clock today, Saturday, and it is now 4.33 when we come to give judgment. I make no apology for saying that the judgment will lack the detail and the quality which one would have hoped to put into it but for that recital of the facts and the pressures which are now brought to bear upon the courts with a view to getting urgent answers to urgent matters." The matter had initially come up in the Commercial Court on July 21 before Justice Parker when the plaintiffs, an international commodity trading concern, sought an injunction to prevent 6000 tons of soya bean oil for which they claimed title, from falling into the hands of the Iranian Trading Corporation. Continental Grain had contracted to sell the oil to Interice Ltd which would sell it to the Iranians. The oil was shipped on an Iranian Shipping Lines' vessel f.o.b., and payment was to be effected in cash against documents. Interice failed to pay Continental, which then applied for an injunction ordering the Iranian Shipping Lines to divert its vessel to a safe port (Karachi being the most convenient), discharge it and deliver it to Continental. The application for injunctive relief was adjourned, the Iranians gave an undertaking to keep the vessel outside Iranian waters until July 27, and to enter into negotiations regarding the disposal of the oil. The second undertaking did not materialize. The matter came back to Justice Parker on July 29. The Iranians applied for a stay of the action. Justice Parker granted an injunction and refused a stay. The Iranians then appealed. Lord Ackner and Oliver heard the appeal on July 29 and 30 and dismissed it. The entire matter took ten days from start to finish. The property owners were careful. They had stipulated that the transactions would be covered by the laws of England. Without any hesitation and without having been asked to so do, the judges worked on a holiday, and that too at the start of their vacation. Moral of the story : wherever possible, have contracts covered by the laws of England. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010907 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Getting smaller things right ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ayaz Amir Natural calamities and man-made disasters Pakistan will survive. But I doubt if the same assurance can be extended to the onslaught of the plastic shopping bag which is choking every last drain in the republic and disfiguring its landscape. There are pests which cannot go into the sea or cross the Himalayas. No such handicap of climate or geography deters the plastic shopper whose ubiquitous presence is more deadly than that of the sectarian outfits which murder in the name of Islam. When the final cataclysm takes place, of whose occurrence all the Books assure us, and the mountains roll into the seas and the waters pour over the land, everything will be flattened but the shopper will still be there, floating above the waters, clinging to the trees and giving the angels a hard time. Granted General Musharraf and his corps commanders are still trying to get their bearings right. Granted they need at least another ten years to implement their agenda. But what ingenuity or magical intuition is required to wake up to the menace of small things? Or is it that another Task Force must be set up to mull over the threat of the plastic shopper before the Chief Executive and his cohorts can be moved to action? The mutilation of the Constitution will be of concern to any right- thinking citizen. As will be the freezer in which the carcass of democracy has been placed for safe keeping. But the country's ability to master bigger problems would be far more credible if it could first get around to solving smaller ones. What's the problem in getting rid of the plastic shoppper? What biblical injunction prevents its destruction? Our love of all things plastic almost suggests as if we and not the Germans were the first to manufacture it. Plastic chairs, crockery, containers, buckets - the infernal thing has spread faster than any plague. There is a brand of vegetable ghee which now sells in plastic buckets encouraging village housewives, who think they are onto a good thing, to collect them for other uses. The mineral water scourge is another source for the spread of plastic as is the curse of the American soft drink whose invasion of the globe predates the insidious spread of the shopper. A country like Pakistan should have no place for disposable plastic bottles or anything plastic that can be thrown away including - the storm troopers of the women's movement may note - disposable plastic nappies. The All-powerful, being merciful, will forgive us our other transgressions, not this one. Did He create the earth for us to litter it with non-degradable junk? Even the pristine fastness of our highest mountains are not secure from the plastic invasion. Mountaineering teams deserve our respect when they test the limits of human endurance. But they become a problem when they throw their litter around. Heroism is no excuse for despoiling our mountains. Or take the eucalyptus tree. Do we need another Revelation to tell us that this tree, a fiendish import from Australia, is injurious to the kind of land we have in the subcontinent? You don't have to be a forestry specialist to know this. Enormous quantities of water are required for its fast-rising growth. Even for waterlogged areas its use has to be watched for what it sucks up is fresh (and therefore drinkable) water, leaving saline water behind. But no, being the monkeys that we are, we fell for the World Bank command that this was a miracle tree. Now it can be seen even on rain-fed lands where there is a scarcity of sub-soil water. From British days onwards we planted longer-growing tree varieties along our highways. Now the fashion is to plant the eucalyptus. Not only does it injure the soil, it also does not fit into the tone and texture of our traditional vegetation. One thing always beats me: why can't we leave the few open spaces that we have alone? In this context, what about the expected desecration of the Ayub National Park? Couldn't the army have left it alone? Must some half-tutored retired army officer - a breed, come to think of it, as pestilential as the plastic shopper - be given the run of it to turn it into a heritage museum? In the Rawalpindi area there are more retired and serving generals, brigadiers and colonels per square yard of built-up area than perhaps anywhere else on the planet. These people are always lecturing us about the higher imperatives of national security (which often boils down to saying, don't touch our pension nests). Have they no concern for their environment? Can they not deliver a petition to GHQ to leave the Ayub Park, the one piece of woodland near the city, alone? What a city 'Pindi once used to be. What a traffic and building slum it has now become. In much of the industrialized North, civic order and the rule of law arrived much earlier than the trappings of democracy. Even in the age of absolutism European monarchies were governed by some system of laws. Even Henry the Eighth had to seek a dispensation from the Church before marrying his several wives and beheading two of them. What a contrast with us where right till the coming of the British the will and whim of emperor, king or local satrap ruled supreme, unfettered by even a passing reference to any structure of laws. At times it seems as if the past has not left us and the intervening years of British rule touched merely the surface of our existence. In order to better appreciate our failure to master the problems of governance, no study is more worthwhile than that of the history of Punjab, and what is now the Frontier province, from the decline of the Mughal empire to the formation of the Sikh kingdom under Ranjit Singh. A tale of intrigue, murder, rapine and pillage so fantastic, and so full of colour, that it would look strange even in a work of fiction. Given some effort, a few books on that period can be found but in our collective memory those years of mayhem and anarchy are a blank and we know less about them than, say, the Thirty Years' War in Europe or the French Revolution. It is for native historians to cover this lapse. The British established their empire to fulfill their imperial ambitions. Any light spread was not by design but through historic inevitability. There should be no illusions on this score. When one culture comes into contact with another, something is bound to rub off on both sides. So it is that through that interaction we got certain things about which we knew nothing: the rule of law, scientific education and, in time, the seedlings of representative government. Civilization of course we had before but with the decline of the Mughals it fell into decay and for a hundred and fifty years thereafter India was prey to turbulence, a state of affairs ending only with the consolidation of British rule. A false sense of national pride should not lead us to deny these things or to submerge them under the rhetoric of a misleading nationalism. Colonial legacy: how easily we parrot the phrase without understanding its import. Of course there was evil in colonialism, as there would be in any form of foreign rule. But we have had over half a century to get rid of the evil and preserve the good. We have done just the reverse. While dismantling the institutions which constituted the brighter side of colonialism, we have burdened the country with fresh problems: Kalashnikov Islam, intolerance and an approach to culture of whose multiple symbols one of the most widespread is the plastic shopper. For the foreseeable future our economic situation will remain grim and tight. There is no easy way out of our debt problem. Nor, even with the best of intentions, can we scale down defence expenditure in a hurry. With scarce resources, therefore, we will have to live for quite some time. All the more reason then to till our garden in such a manner as to substitute diligence and imagination for money. Does it cost money to get rid of the shopper, cut down the eucalyptus tree or preserve the Ayub National Park? It does not require foreign money to make taxis and rickshaws run on meters or to ensure that there is no overcrowding in passenger buses or wagons. The rule of law is an attitude of behaviour and of mind and has little to do directly with money. Indonesia and Nigeria had no shortage of oil money. That has not made them into better-run countries. We had no shortage of money in the eighties. We too blew it and spent it on consumption. The challenge therefore is to run the country on better lines, to get to know how to tackle the smaller problems first, before moving on to the bigger ones. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010908 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Just say no to DoCoMo ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Irfan Husain According to the Japanese communications giant NTT, its third generation mobile phone system (which goes under the embarrassingly infantile name of DoCoMo) is about to be launched. Apparently, by the end of 2002, this amazing new technology will allow us to download movies as well as music from the Internet. I hope the executives of NTT will forgive me for being slightly under-whelmed by their technical breakthrough: the prospect of watching films on an approximately one-square inch screen leaves me entirely cold. It seems that this latest gadget from Japan will be able to do everything for us except polish our shoes, (but the NTT boffins are working on it). Cynics will say that as the corporation has sunk in over eight billion dollars in developing what is known as third generation mobile telephony, you would expect it to hype up this project. I have little doubt that when the current bugs in the system are removed, millions of affluent people around the world will buy the new phones and be even more plugged in than they are now. However, let me warn NTT that I will not be queuing up for one. As it is, I have yet to master the capabilities and intricacies of my first generation mobile phone. For instance, I know that it can store an amazing amount of names and telephone numbers, and I only have to scroll down to get the name I want to call. But the thought of punching in so much information on the tiny keys is tedious beyond belief. So until I muster up the enthusiasm and the energy, I will continue using my phone book. And do you know what? It may not be high-tech, but it works amazingly well. Another capability in my mobile phone that remains unused is its habit of showing who is calling as the number appears on the screen. And if I hadn't been lazy to program my instrument with names and their numbers, it would have showed me who is calling as well. I suppose the idea is to let you decide whether to take the call or not. The problem is that I can't read the tiny numerals and letters on the screen without my reading glasses that are in a case. By the time I have put them on to see who is calling, the phone has stopped ringing. So I take the call regardless of who is at the other end. Another confession I must make is that I regard mobile phones as intrusive nuisances. For instance, I think it is the height of bad manners to take or make a call during dinner. Nothing annoys me more at a restaurant than the shrill beeping of a cell phone, and the loud and inane conversation carried out over the phone on the table next to me makes me want to jab the offender with my fish fork. What can be more important than the enjoyment of good food in good company? If and when I start my own restaurant, I shall ban cell phones and well-done steaks. But I don't want readers to get the impression that I am an anti- technology Luddite: I only feel that cell phones are convenient inventions that should not be allowed to take over our lives. Many young people I know seem to spend half their waking hours either chatting on their phones or sending and receiving text messages on them. This last service, while convenient, requires sharp eyes and nimble fingers. Kids are highly adept at punching the little keys, but what are the messages they are so busy sending to the ends of the earth? In most cases, nothing more sensational than "R U OK?" As it is, our standards of spelling and grammar are plummeting; I fear that the advent of SMS (or 'short message service') will only accelerate this trend. My high-tech son calls me "technologically challenged", but actually I have managed to keep up with recent developments. I just don't find them all particularly useful for my purposes. Take the so-called Personal Digital Assistants (or PDAs) as an example. These little gadgets can store an amazing amount of information relating to addresses, telephone numbers and appointments; in addition, you can tap in text, which can then be transferred, to your computer. My son passed on his Psion to me when he was upgrading to a more sophisticated PDA, and I laboriously punched in scores of names and numbers into its memory, apart from typing in my appointments with its tiny keys. Somehow, I managed to erase its memory when I was changing its battery. That experience so scared me that I returned the machine to Shakir and have gone back to using my telephone book and my diary. So far, I have felt only relief at reverting to my low-tech ways. While I am on the subject, let me also admit that I have yet to learn to program my VCR to record from the TV in my absence. I know it has this capability because it's manual says so, but apart from never being sure when there will be a power outage, I have never actually gone through the instruction book. Indeed, I suspect this to be true for most people of my generation. For me, life is too short to be fiddling about with tiny buttons and incomprehensible symbols on the off-chance that there will be electricity when my favourite TV program is on. My relationship with computers has been pretty ambivalent as well. While I have had a succession of them for 15 years and have a pretty good grasp of the technology, I have basically used them as glorified typewriters. And while I love e-mail, I only use my Internet to occasionally and quickly scan newspapers from India, Israel, France, the United States and the United Kingdom. I never "surf" or "chat." Even e-mail has its built-in traps: when you hit the 'delete' key, your messages are not deleted as you would expect, but moved to another folder. The geeks at Microsoft learned to their cost that incriminating memos can be retrieved when the famous trial was going on a couple of years ago. All this leads me to believe that there are millions of us who do not use modern technology to anywhere near its full capability. There are probably trillions of unutilized bits and bytes out there in all kinds of electronic gadgets that you and I have paid for. My point is that the technologically challenged should have the option of buying 'lite' models that do not incorporate the features that Shakir's generation wants. Why should I have to pay for electronic memory and processing power I will never use? Until that happens, let us just say no to DoCoMo.
SPORTS 20010906 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shahid Zaman remains unbeaten ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Sept 5: Shahid Zaman, Aijaz Azmat and Farrukh Zaman scored highly contrasting victories in the national squash trials for the SAF Games and world team championship at PIA's Jahangir Khan Squash Complex. Shahid handed out veteran Zarak Jahan Khan a lesson with a 15-6, 15-7, 7-15, 15-13 victory in just 14 minutes to register his 7th consecutive win in the competition. In the evening Shahid defeated cousin Farrukh Zaman 15-11, 15-6, 15-7 to complete eighth win in a row. Aijaz Azmat took two minutes more than Shahid in routing talented Zubair Ali Khan of Pakistan Army in straight games. He won 15-9,15- 8, 15-7. Farrukh Zaman was stretched to limits by Shams-ul- Islam before chalking out 3-2 win after a gruelling 73 minutes encounter. Farrukh staged grand rally from 0-2 down to carve out 7-15, 12-15, 15-9, 15-9, 15-8 triumph. In other morning matches Mansoor Zaman bt Naveed Atlas (PAF) 15-7, 15-9, 15-7, Muhammad Ilyas bt Majid Khan 7-15, 15-10, 9-15, 15-9, 15-14. Evening session: Mansoor Zaman bt Zarak Jahan Khan 15-1, 15-7, 15- 4, Zubair Ali Khan bt Muhammad Ilyas 15-6, 15-10, 13-15, 17-15, Shams-ul-Islam bt Aijaz Azmat 15-12, 13-15, 17-14, 15-5. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010904 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shock defeat for Mansoor Zaman ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter KARACHI, Sept 3: Mansoor Zaman and Zarak Jahan Khan suffered defeats on the second day of the squash trials at the PIA Jahangir Khan squash complex. The trials are being conducted to pick Pakistan squad for the SAF Games and world team championship. Shams-ul-Islam recorded a thrilling five-game victory over Mansoor, a former Asian junior champion, 15-12 15-13 5-15 6-15 15-7 in 54 minutes in the evening session match. In the morning session, Aijaz Azmat bundled out Zarak 11-15 15-11 15-8 15-8 in 57 minutes. Zarak, however, lifted himself in the evening program when he defeated a half-fit Naveed Atlas 7-15 15-9 15-10 15-13 in 41 minutes. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010905 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shahid and Shams almost secure berths ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter KARACHI, Sept 4: Mansoor Zaman's hopes of qualifying in the Pakistan squad for the SAF Games and world team championship received severe setback after he lost his second match on the third day of the trials at the PIA Jahangir Khan Squash Complex. Shahid Zaman and Shams-ul-Islam have almost secured berths after winning sixth and fifth matches respectively. Pakistan's top ranked player, Amjad Khan, is not appearing in the trials because of thigh injury which he suffered in the semifinals of CNS Squash last week. Mansoor, who lost to Shams-ul-Islam, lost to Shahid Zaman 15-12 15- 13 4-15 15-11 in 42 minutes. He, however, recovered in the evening session when he defeated Mohammad Ilyas 15-5 15-10 15-2 in just 19 minutes. But there was gloom for Zarak Jahan Khan who lost both his matches to take his tally of defeats to five from six matches. The former Asian champion lost to Majid Khan 10-15 15-12 17-15 13- 15 15-13 in the morning session. In the evening session, Zubair Ali Khan routed Zarak 15-12 15-10 15-9 in 23 minutes. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010905 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Moin vows to win back his place ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter KARACHI, Sept 4: Former captain Moin Khan vowed to win back his place and emphasized that a lot of cricket was left in him. "It is not the first time that I am dropped . But I have always fought my way back into the team and look forward to make it happen again." the wicketkeeper said. Moin was first dropped on the 1992 tour to England but reclaimed his status as No 1 wicketkeeper on the 1996 tour to England before losing his place on the Bangladesh, South Africa and Zimbabwe tours in 1997-98. The gutsy wicketkeeper-batsman last fell out with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hierarchy this March when he lost captaincy and place in the team after the tour to New Zealand. The world record holder in one-day cricket said he would return to domestic cricket and try to impress the selectors. However, Moin's average of 111.4 in the one-day tournament for associations in May- June failed to earn him an opportunity to, at least, show his limited overs cricket prowess in the tri-nation one-day series in England. "My job is to go out there and perform while the selectors job is to pick the best man available. But I personally feel that at the age of 29, I still have several years of cricket left in me," he said. Moin, in the last five months, has been twice overlooked by the selectors for the training camp. His ouster from the Pakistan team also remains a mystery as none of the PCB official has explained his sacking. "Frankly speaking, Rashid Latif is doing a great job with the gloves and with the bat. He is difficult to dislodge but then I have to wait patiently for my opportunity. "As once Jimmy Connors said: `Fight till the last point because you never know lightning might fall on the other side of the court and you win'. "I am a professional and consider myself mentally strong. It is disappointing to be out of contention but than that's part of the game." Moin said he would like to see Pakistan break its four-series win drought in the forthcoming series against New Zealand. "Whether I am in the team or not, I would always like to see Pakistan win. No one knows better than me how it feels to end up on the losing side," Moin said with reference to defeats against Zimbabwe, Australia, Sri Lanka and England in which he participated. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20010905 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Lahore may host ATC final ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Reporter KARACHI, Sept 4: The Asian Test Championship final, expected between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, is likely to be played at Lahore next year. Although the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) will be deciding the venue in its meeting at Lahore on Oct 20 and 21, Sri Lanka have conveyed the event manager that they were willing to play the final in Pakistan. Gaddafi Stadium is the headquarters of cricket in Pakistan. ACC secretary Zakir Husain Syed said the final was likely to be played in March but was unsure of exact dates. "The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) needs to inform us the itinerary of West Indies series and then we will study the availability of Sri Lanka. But the tournament in all probablity will conclude by March next year," he said. Sri Lanka are to host Zimbabwe this December but their next assignment will be in May when they tour England, according to ICC's 10-year calendar. He said he had no reasons to believe that Indian delegation would not attend the summit in October which follows immediately after the International Cricket Council (ICC) executive board meeting. "The issues pertains to them. Therefore, they should attend the meeting. We have already requested the High Commission to grant them visas," he said. ------------------------------------------------------------------- You can subscribe to DWS by sending an email to <subscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following text in the BODY of your message: subscribe dws To unsubscribe, send an email to <unsubscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following in the BODY of you message: unsubscribe dws ------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to the top.
Dawn page
Webbed by Philip McEldowney
Last update:
.