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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 4 August 2001 Issue : 07/31
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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
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(c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 2001
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CONTENTS
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NATIONAL NEWS
+ No compromise on Kashmir: Musharraf
+ Revival of democracy next year: Musharraf
+ Pakistan's claim to Jinnah House may never be accepted
+ Vajpayee says he will visit Pakistan
+ Musharraf not serious about peace: Vajpayee
+ Govt exploiting foreign policy issues: Benazir
+ 40 Indian army men face inquiry
+ West mulls proposals for resolving Kashmir issue
+ ARD team holds talks
+ Lifting of sanctions linked to democracy: Rocca
+ Joint screening of Afghan refugees: Accord signed with UNHCR
+ UN opposes forced repatriation of DPs
+ PML accuses government of manipulating LB election
+ Changes in NAB law: draft sent for approval
+ MQM slams agencies for alleged persecution
+ Ministries to be rightsized
+ Pakistan asks UNSC to rein in Israeli extremists
+ UN team to operate from Pakistan
+ Benazir concerned over state of affairs in Pakistan
+ General Ziauddin dismissed from service
+ Pilgrims to pay more for Haj next year: policy announced
+ Iran turns down Pakistan request
+ 40-foot rise in Mangla dam height approved
+ Tarbela Dam's storage capacity decreases
+ Two die as Tezrao derails
+ Govt failed to check terrorism: PML
+ Benazir voices concern over law and order situation
+ Jhangvi group says it is responsible
+ Siddiq Kanju, former MPA shot dead
+ Two more fall prey to target killing
+ Ex-IB chief gets eight years' RI in graft case
+ Mansurul Haq's remand extended for 11 days
+ Court orders Asif's production: Double-murder case
+ PPP claims victory on 80pc seats
+ Bureaucrats top list of men under NAB probe
+ Al-Qaida warns US against attack on Osama
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BUSINESS & ECONOMY
+ Servicing of debt to cost Rs329bn in current fiscal
+ WB, IFC assessment under way: Private sector issues
+ IMF mission to open talks on PRGF: $596m SBA to end in Sept
+ WB official warns against risks in banks sell-off
+ $32m loan accord signed with Japan
+ PIA to get Rs4.730bn loan from local banks
+ CBR cell to review task force recommendations
+ 35 cos suspension creates unrest among investors
+ Sugar stock adequate, notes ECC: Forex reserves reach $3.2bn
+ Clouds hover around equities market
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EDITORIALS & FEATURES
+ Two wrongs do not make one right Ardeshir Cowasjee
+ Real democracy: the miracle at hand Ayaz Amir
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SPORTS
+ PCB not to allow ICC sleuths to grill Inzamam
+ Waqar retained captain for home series against Kiwis
+ BCCI approach govt for approval: Lahore Test
+ Cricket ties not feasible at present: India
+ Khayal and Zubair post second win
+ Wasim to coach youngsters
+ PCB's double-standards over fitness of players
+ 'Blue-eyed' Shoaib named in probables: Wasim, Moin axed
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NATIONAL NEWS
20010801
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No compromise on Kashmir: Musharraf
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Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, July 31: President Gen Pervez Musharraf endorsed the
nomination of Maj-Gen Mohammad Anwar as next President of Azad
Jammu and Kashmir. President also reassured that Pakistan would
fulfill its obligations in securing right of franchise for the
people of Kashmir and there would be no compromise on Kashmiris'
right of self-determination.
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20010801
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Revival of democracy next year: Musharraf
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By Hasan Akhtar
ISLAMABAD, July 31: President Gen Pervez Musharraf reaffirmed his
resolve to abide by the Supreme Court directive regarding the
restoration of democracy by October next year.
The reaffirmation came during talks between the president and US
assistant secretary of state for South Asia Christina Rocca. The
discussions focused on bilateral relations.
Issues relating to regional peace and security, including the
initiatives taken at the Pakistan-India summit at Agra, and the
Afghanistan situation also came under discussions during Ms Rocca's
meeting with the president and later separate talks with many
ministers, particularly Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar.
The US assistant secretary and her aides also held formal
discussions with the foreign ministry officials headed by the
additional secretary for Americas, Ali Sarwar Naqvi. The topics
discussed included the latest developments in Pakistan-India
relations, nuclear non proliferation and the US sanctions.
At her meeting with Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider, Ms Rocca
said that the United States believed in bilateralism and close
cooperation with Pakistan in the interest of promoting regional
peace and security. The interior minister briefed her on internal
security, efforts to check narco-traffic, sectarianism, terrorism
and other issues of mutual interest. Economic situation came under
review at the US official's meeting with Finance Minister Shaukat
Aziz.
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20010731
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Pakistan's claim to Jinnah House may never be accepted
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By Qamar Ahmed
LONDON, July 30. Pakistan's claim to the Jinnah House in Mumbai may
never be accepted because of a counter-claim by the founder of the
nation's ageing daughter, Dinah Wadia, and her millionaire son,
Nusli Wadia.
During his recent visit to India, President Gen Pervez Musharraf
had renewed Pakistan's claim to the house which was built by the
Quaid-i-Azam in 1936 when he returned to Bombay from England to
take charge of the Muslim League. The president had suggested to
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that it should be given
to Pakistan so that it could be turned into a consulate. But only
last week, Dinah Wadia who lives in New York, wrote to the Indian
prime minister demanding that the house on the Malabar Hill, now
worth $15 million, be given to her.
According to The Observer, London, the daughter of the Quaid-i-
Azam, and his grandson, Nusli Wadia, who lives in Mumbai, have made
it very clear to the Indian government that they consider President
Musharraf's claim to the house " inappropriate".
Nusli Wadia said last week :"Jinnah's house has absolutely nothing
to do with Pakistan. It was my grandfather's personal residence and
one that he loved dearly. How does that involve Pakistan?"
According to the newspaper, Nusli had recently hinted that his
grandfather, who believed in democracy, would be less than
delighted at the way his beloved Pakistan had turned out.
The daughter and the grandson's claim to the historical house has
been endorsed by the ultra-nationalist Hindu Shiv Sena leader, Bal
Thackeray, who has said: "Today they(Pakistan) are asking for the
Jinnah House. Tomorrow they may want Taj Mahal and the day after
Qutub Minar."
The house was built by a British architect, Claude Batley, a Muslim
contractor,a Hindu plumber and Italian stonemasons. The total cost
in 1936 had come to Rs 200,000.The two- and-a-half acre property,
overlooking the sea, is at a prime location, and in 1948 was leased
to the British High Commission which occupied it till 1982. Indian
government sources say that the claim by the Quaid's heirs will be
treated sympathetically. " We have no intention of handing it to
Pakistan,' said a spokesman.
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20010730
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Vajpayee says he will visit Pakistan
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By Jawed Naqvi
NEW DELHI, July 29: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
distanced himself from claims by party colleagues and reports that
he would not or should not visit Pakistan nor meet President Pervez
Musharraf elsewhere for the moment.
Mr Vajpayee told an impromptu news conference during a tour of
flood-ravaged Orissa state that his visit to Islamabad was very
much there, and emphasized that the question was not if, but when,
he would find the time to return the call here by Gen Musharraf.
Restating that he had already accepted the invitation to visit
Pakistan, Mr Vajpayee said: "I will surely meet President Musharraf
but the date and venue for the meeting are yet to be decided."
In his only on-camera comment on the issue since last week's
parliament statement on the Agra summit, the prime minister said
there was no pressure from the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya
Swayamsewak Sangh against his proposed meeting with President
Musharraf.
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20010729
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Musharraf not serious about peace: Vajpayee
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Monitoring desk
NEW DELHI, July 28: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said that
President Pervez Musharraf came to the Agra summit "as a military
man with a specific self-serving goal and was not serious about
restoring peace" between the two nations.
Mr Vajpayee said that "from day one (of the summit), it appeared
that the talks were going to break down because of Musharraf's
attitude. He (Musharraf) even refused to acknowledge the Simla
Agreement of 1972 and the Lahore Declaration of 1999." "By
afternoon on the second day, Musharraf became quite desperate as he
realized he would have to return to Islamabad empty handed," Mr
Vajpayee said.
The prime minister remarked that Gen Musharraf often appeared
"ignorant" about Indian politics and history. India, he felt, had
not lost anything from the Agra summit. "The world has seen India's
resolve to achieve peace in the sub- continent," he pointed out.
Mr Vajpayee's 30-minute speech was laced with humour and also
contained a strong message that his government was not going to
compromise on Jammu and Kashmir. "We have given a message to the
world that India can never compromise on Jammu and Kashmir. It is
an integral part of our country."
The national executive also passed a resolution on the Agra summit,
saying that "it must be clearly understood that no meaningful
dialogue with Pakistan can be conducted as long as the Jihadi
mentality dominates the Pakistani establishment."
The resolution further warned that "if Pakistan continues to adopt
a negative posture, the government of India should draw appropriate
conclusions and plan for the future accordingly." During the
discussion on the resolution, some members opposed the opening of
additional points on the India-Pakistan border for issuing visas,
which is one of the confidence building measures announced by India
on the eve of the Agra summit. Said a delegate from Rajasthan: "If
we allow easy passage for Pakistanis in India, very soon Jodhpur
and other cities in Rajasthan will turn into another Kashmir."
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20010729
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Govt exploiting foreign policy issues: Benazir
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Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, July 28: Benazir Bhutto has said that the military
regime is diverting domestic and international opinion by
exploiting foreign policy issues while the domestic and regional
situation becomes more critical. She was talking to the second
Pakistani British elected to the House of Commons, Khalid Mahmud,
says a press release.
The PPP leader briefed Mr Mahmud on the political situation in
Pakistan. She praised Britain's support for the restoration of
democracy and highlighted cases of human rights abuses in the
country. She said that her family and forty per cent of the PPP
Central Executive Committee members were facing persecution at the
hands of the generals because of their political beliefs. The
former prime minister said the atmosphere of persecution in the
country had affected the ordinary Pakistanis as law and order had
worsened and the economy had continued to decline.
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20010804
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40 Indian army men face inquiry
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ISLAMABAD, Aug 3: At least 40 Indian army men face Courts of
Inquiry on charges ranging from failure of command and control to
cowardice and desertion, during the Kargil operations. A report in
the Indian magazine Outlook, under the caption "War and witch-
hunts", says that the army men include majors, junior commissioned
officers and jawans.
The magazine says: "None of the generals, whose duty it was to
conduct the war is facing any official inquiry for their flawed
leadership. Instead, two of them have been decorated and awarded
with plum posting. "This has triggered enormous resentment among
the junior officers and men. This is the first time in the history
of the Indian army that such a large number of inquiries have been
initiated against officers and men. "But when allegations in the
press and parliament surfaced that the top brass had mismanaged the
Kargil operations, the generals concerned were quick to launch a
cover-up operation.
"The ploy they used was to selectively target battalions entrusted
with the most difficult of tasks- charging up the mountain to evict
the 'freedom fighters' perched atop, a strategy built around high
human cost. "Other top targets are officers and men of those
battalions charged with failing to detect the takeover while the
top brass ignored the early warnings of heightened enemy buildups.
The blame has been placed solely on those deployed in Kargil. Even
the Subrahmanyam Committee talks of overall intelligence failure".-
APP
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20010731
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West mulls proposals for resolving Kashmir issue
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Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, July 30: Pakistan and India will have to find out an
amicable resolution of Kashmir dispute to ensure peace and
stability in the region. Diplomatic sources told Dawn that the
United States and the European Union (EU) were closely monitoring
the latest developments in the region to resolve the half-a-
century-old Kashmir dispute.
They said that time had come when the Kashmir issue could not be
allowed to linger on for an indefinite time and that its resolution
was now one of the top priorities of USA and the West. The visit of
US Assistance Secretary of State Christina Rocca is being termed
very significant by the sources.
"We hope she would also have fruitful talks with Pakistan officials
as was done last week in New Delhi for settling the Kashmir issue,"
said a senior western diplomat. He said that various proposals were
being discussed to settle the Kashmir issue.
"One of the proposals is that India and Pakistan should jointly
manage both sides of Kashmir," he said, adding that France and
Spain had overcome their territorial dispute over Andorre region
over 500 years ago by agreeing to run its affairs jointly. To a
question he said that the proposal might not be accepted by both
India and Pakistan but hastened to add, "If they can manage Wahga
border jointly why cannot they do the same in Kashmir?"
The sources lauded President Gen Pervez Musharraf's efforts to
resolve the Kashmir dispute and said that centrality of the Kashmir
problem was now being recognized by everyone including India.
They expressed the hope that with the US Assistance Secretary of
State visiting both the countries, Indian Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee's forthcoming visit to Islamabad would be
significant to address the Kashmir issue in its true prospective.
"A European Union (EU) delegation visits Indian-controlled Kashmir
once a year and some time twice a year and it is very much
concerned about human rights violations there and as such the issue
is not going unnoticed as many people believe in Pakistan," the
sources said.
They said that both Pakistan and India had unofficially been
recognized as nuclear powers and if they went to war it would be
disastrous for both the countries. "The US and West have come to
the conclusion that India and Pakistan cannot have any territorial
gain in case of war because both have formidable nuclear arsenals,"
they added. Therefore, they said, the two countries would have to
hold talks to resolve their dispute peacefully.
About the situation in Pakistan, they said President Musharraf had
successfully improved the economy for which international donors
would offer all possible assistance. However, they said, the
president would get the legitimacy when he held general elections
and help return the country on the path to democracy as he had
himself promised on a number of occasions.
The sources said that Pakistan's Afghanistan policy needed to be
reviewed as the West was afraid of fundamentalism and spread of
drugs and illegal weapons in the region as well as their exports to
western countries. They said that Islamabad enjoyed a certain
degree of influence on Taliban which should be used to get the
desired results.
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20010801
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ARD team holds talks
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Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, July 31: A three-member delegation of the Alliance for
Restoration of Democracy called on US Assistant Secretary of State
Christina Rocca at the United States embassy.
The delegation, which comprised senior vice-chairman of Pakistan
People's Party Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Acting President of Pakistan
Muslim League (N) Makhdoom Javed Hashmi and President of Awami
National Party Asfandyar Wali, discussed domestic and regional
issues at an hour-long meeting with the visiting US assistant
secretary of state, ARD sources said.
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20010803
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Lifting of sanctions linked to democracy: Rocca
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By Syed Talat Hussain
ISLAMABAD, Aug 2: The US Assistant Secretary of State for South
Asian Affairs, Christina B. Rocca, said that the United States
wanted to find a way to re-engage with Pakistan.
Talking to reporters at the end of a three-day visit to Pakistan,
Ms Rocca said part of the purpose of her visit to Pakistan was to
see where these relations could be fixed, which she said, had not
been the best in the last couple of years. "We want to find a way
to re-engage with Pakistan because Pakistan is important to us. We
have got a lot of interests in common and we need to find a way to
build on that," she said.
The US official said all the nuclear-related sanctions against
Pakistan were still being discussed. She said section 508 or
democracy-related sanctions could only be lifted when democracy was
fully restored. The US official said both Pakistan and India were
important to the US and the US relations with them were not a zero-
sum game for either.
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20010803
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Joint screening of Afghan refugees: Accord signed with UNHCR
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By Ahmed Hassan
ISLAMABAD, Aug 2: The United Nations High Commission for Refugees
(UNHCR), after showing considerable resistance, has finally reached
an agreement with Pakistan government on the screening of Afghan
refugees who have fled to Pakistan to escape drought and war in
their homeland.
Both the sides signed what the UNHCR representative in Pakistan
described as a "landmark agreement" which will set in motion a
screening process for the Afghans who had fled their country in the
past couple of years and are now living in Pakistan without being
registered. Earlier, the UNHCR was adamant on screening of fresh
Afghan arrivals on the grounds that no refugee under the
conventional law could forcefully be repatriated while Pakistan
insisted repatriation of such unauthorized Afghans.
The government of Afghanistan, seeing no flexibility in Pakistan's
stand, had announced to establish tent villages inside the country
for those repatriated from Pakistan and Iran. The UNCHR
representative in Pakistan Hasim Utkan said: "It was a major
breakthrough and a significant step forward which will ensure
proper protection to all those Afghans who deserve it." The UN
Resident Coordinator Onder Yucer assured full support to the
agreement and hoped that it will facilitate assistance to the
refugees.
Under the agreement, 30 joint UNHCR/Pakistan teams will begin
screening of the Afghans in Jalozai and Nasir Bagh in the NWFP and
within three weeks the teams will be increased to 55 who will
eventually also cover new Shamshato refugee amp.
Under the programme, an information campaign targeting the
residents of Jalozai and Nasir Bagh will start immediately, to be
followed by a data-gathering exercise for 20 days. During this
phase, the Afghans will be asked for general family information.
They will also be asked if they wished to return home. Those who
will opt for going home would receive a voluntary repatriation
grant.
The Afghans opting for joining in the joint screening exercise will
be interviewed to determine their status and those found to be
needing protection will be allowed to stay in Pakistan and will be
relocated to settlements specified by the authorities and will
receive assistance from the UNHCR. The Afghans whose cases will be
rejected would have the right to appeal. However, once a final
decision is taken, they would have to return home.
The UNHCR has urged the authorities to treat those screened out in
accordance with international human rights standards and allow for
the phased return of vulnerable ones. At present Pakistan hosts
some two million Afghan refugees of whom 1.2 million lived in 203
villages grouped into 127 key refugee clusters - 105 in NWFP, 21 in
Balochistan and one in Punjab.
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20010730
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UN opposes forced repatriation of DPs
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By Abdul Sami Paracha
KOHAT, July 29: The UNHCR and the ministry of state and frontier
regions (SAFRON) have once again failed to reach an agreement on
the criteria for screening two million "registered" Afghan refugees
residing in different cities of the country.
Dawn has learnt that UNHCR officials are adamant that, under the
international law, the refugees cannot be forced to go back to
their country unless normality returns there. They say that
Pakistan officials' claim that these Afghans have, in fact, crossed
the border to escape harsh economic conditions prevalent in their
country, is not true because there are reports of heavy fighting
going on between the Taliban and the forces of Northern Alliance.
A senior UN official told Dawn on Sunday that" we are certainly not
against the screening of those Afghan refugees who are willing to
go back to their native towns, where peace has returned, but we are
against forced repatriation of refugees who have been living here
for the last 16 years.
" The meaning of the word' refugee' is very clear and those falling
in this category enjoy certain legal rights ensured by the UN. So,
we hope that there will be no confusion about it in future talks
over the screening of refugees."
The official said:" The United Nations is aware of the problems
faced by the government and the people of Pakistan due to the
presence of such a large number of refugees and that is why it has
started phase-wise repatriation from NWFP." He said billions of
rupees were required for the rehabilitation of refugees in their
country, whereas the response from the world powers, which were
party to the Afghan war and responsible for bringing misery to that
country, was very poor.
The UN could not go the whole hog without monetary support from
these countries, he added.
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20010804
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PML accuses government of manipulating LB election
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Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Aug 3: The acting president of Pakistan Muslim League,
Javed Hashmi, claimed that blatant manipulation in the fourth phase
of local bodies election by the military rulers had caused
irreparable damage to the army's image among the masses.
"We still regard the army as a very sacred institution," Mr Hashmi
said at a press conference, held at the party secretariat. He said
the rulers were out to destroy the army's image. "The biggest crime
of the rulers is that they have damaged the military's image beyond
repair."
He said military intervention in politics was not something new,
but it used to be on a very high level. This time even the officers
of major rank intervened and influenced candidates, he claimed. He
said the overwhelming success of candidates backed by political
parties was a major setback to the government's designs. "The new
system has, in fact, broken down even before take off."
He said the government had miserably failed to eliminate two major
opposition parties from the political horizon of the country.
Commenting on the election result, he said the PML had boycotted
the election and had not fielded any candidate. However, he added,
it had allowed its workers and leaders to make adjustments at the
local level.
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20010731
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Changes in NAB law: draft sent for approval
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Bureau Report
PESHAWAR, July 30: National Accountability Bureau has suggested
changes in the NAB ordinance and submitted draft amendments to the
federal government to bring it in conformity with the Supreme Court
judgment.
Speaking at a press briefing, NAB chairman Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool
said: "NAB has sent a package of amendments in the NAB ordinance to
the federal government for approval. The package has been so
drafted that it will fulfil the directives of the Supreme Court
judgment." In reply to a question, Lt-Gen Maqbool said these
amendments would make the whole process more efficient, help in
combating economic crimes and facilitate the procurement of
corruption evidence from abroad.
The chairman declined to go into the specifics of the proposed
amendments but denied reports that one of the proposed amendments
had been prepared to target Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari in
the SGS case. "The proposed amendment has not specifically been
drafted with reference to the SGS case," he explained, adding, "we
have suggested things that would enable us to put before the court
evidence received from abroad."
The General said the accountability process had received
international recognition and many countries were now cooperating
with Pakistan in extradition and provision of documentary evidence
against the corrupt. He said the British attorney-general had
provided to the Pakistan government volumes of evidence comprising
22,000 papers against Ms Bhutto and her spouse. The evidence, he
said, contained documents about the famous Rock Wood Estate. "Now
we are taking our investigations beyond our borders."
He revealed that NAB was investigating big corruption cases in the
PTCL, Pakistan Steel Mills, Karachi Development Authority, Lahore
Development Authority, ministry of petroleum and allied
organizations, including the OGDC and Pakistan State Oil. In the
NWFP, he said, NAB was looking into the Ring Road scam and Ghazi
Barotha project in which, he added, land had been bought at
exorbitantly higher prices.
The three financial institutions in which investigations had been
launched were: Bankers Equity, Indus Bank and the Prudential Bank.
He said the State Bank was cooperating with NAB investigations.
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20010802
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MQM slams agencies for alleged persecution
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 1: The deputy convener of the Muttahida Qaumi
Movement's coordination committee, Aftab Ahmed Shaikh, has said
that government agencies' personnel were resorting to torture his
party workers in order to get their loyalty changed.
Speaking at a press conference Mr Aftab deplored the alleged
barbaric torture to a Muttahida member, Mohammad Naeem, in
Hyderabad, and stated that due to extreme infliction of pain and
injury Naeem was compelled to attempt suicide in police custody. He
also praised Naeem and maintained that his attempt to kill himself
was just to keep his party loyalty intact.
Muttahida's deputy convener said that the higher authorities were
kept informed about the arrests of party workers, their
victimization and torturous actions against them, but no
encouraging reply was available from them. "In fact there is no
acceptance of Muhajir people's human rights by the people at the
helm of affairs and now we are informing the national and
international human rights organizations about the injustices and
damages being done to the Muhajirs," he said.
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20010729
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Ministries to be rightsized
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By Ihtasham ul Haque
ISLAMABAD, July 28: The government has decided to substantially
reduce the size of the federal structure to be unfolded by
President Gen Pervez Musharraf on August 14 this year. Official
sources said that a big downsizing and rightsizing of federal
ministries and divisions were currently being finalised with a view
to improving the economy.
"There is no justification for those ministries and divisions which
are performing equal functions," a ministerial source said. He
added that President Musharraf had called for closing down those
ministries and divisions which were performing equal functions and
hence becoming a great burden on the public purse. He said the
present 34 divisions were likely to be cut to half by having their
mergers. In some cases, few of the divisions will be totally
dissolved.
The World Bank and the IMF have also reportedly called for reducing
the strength of the federal government specially by removing the
dead wood and those appointed on political considerations by both
the PPP and PML governments.
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20010729
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Pakistan asks UNSC to rein in Israeli extremists
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, July 28: Pakistan has called upon the five permanent
members of the UN Security Council to prevent Israel extremists
from laying the foundation-stone of the Solomon Temple on July 29,
2001.
Following is text of the government statement: "The government of
Pakistan has received the extremely disturbing news that a group of
extremists in Israel intends to lay the foundation-stone of the
Solomon Temple, possibly on Sunday, July 29, 2001, threatening to
destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Holy Al-Quds.
"Such a criminal act violative of the sanctity of one of the
holiest Islamic places which is heritage also of human
civilization, would be bound to trigger a strong reaction
throughout the Muslim world, with grave and incalculable
consequences for the maintenance of international peace and
security.
"The government of Pakistan calls upon the UNSC to take immediate
cognizance of the criminal action planned by Israeli extremists,
and to urge the Government of Israel to take prompt and effective
measures to prevent violation of its international obligations
under resolutions of the UNSC and principles of international law
governing occupied territories.'' "The government of Pakistan also
appeals to the Security Council of the United Nations to take
appropriate action without loss of time in order to protect the
sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque," the statement concluded.
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20010801
-------------------------------------------------------------------
UN team to operate from Pakistan
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Syed Talat Hussain
ISLAMABAD, July 31: Majority of the 15 members of the special team
to monitor arms embargo enforcement against the Taliban will
operate from Pakistan, diplomatic sources told Dawn.
The Sanctions Enforcement Support Team, which has been approved by
the United Nations Security Council, will coordinate with a five-
member New York-based Monitoring Group. This group will work in the
areas of counter-terrorism, financing of terrorism, money
laundering, financial transactions and drug trafficking, diplomatic
sources said. Most members of the Support Team, the field arm of
the Monitoring Group, will be based in Pakistan, others will be
sent to Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and China.
Diplomatic sources said the bulk of the operations of this team
would be based in Pakistan because it had the longest border with
Afghanistan (2430km) of all the other contagious countries. The
other reason for basing the team's operations primarily in Pakistan
is reports that the Taliban continue to get support from groups and
entities based in Pakistan.
As part of the functions and mandate of the team, it will also
render assistance and training equipment to modernize services and
the capabilities of Pakistani agencies involved in effective
control and monitoring of its border with Afghanistan.
The team members will not go inside Afghanistan, where the Taliban
have already declared any such monitoring activity by the
international community as enemy deployment. The members will have
to rely considerably on the information gathered from all sources,
including Non-Governmental Organizations and various embassies in
Islamabad.
Diplomatic sources say that Pakistan has already agreed to hosting
and fully cooperating with team members and abiding by all other
obligations under the new UNSC resolution. Government sources,
however, say that various aspects of the operations of the new
sanctions monitoring embargo system are not known as yet and will
be worked out when the mechanism becomes fully operational.
DECISION CRITICIZED: Pakistani officials on Tuesday slammed a UN
decision to monitor sanctions against Afghanistan's Taliban
militia, but promised Islamabad's cooperation, Reuters adds.
A foreign ministry official said the Security Council's decision
was an "intrusion" on Pakistan's sovereignty. "Pakistan wanted the
United Nations to negotiate on the issue and be soft. Pakistan felt
such an arrangement would be an intrusion in its sovereign status,"
said the official who refused to be named.
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20010804
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Benazir concerned over state of affairs in Pakistan
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Ahmad Hasan Alvi
ISLAMABAD, Aug 3: Former prime minister and chairperson of Pakistan
People's Party (PPP) Benazir Bhutto said that Pakistan was not
progressing due to repeated martial laws in the country. According
to PPP Media Cell, Benazir Bhutto was speaking at a news conference
in Glasgow.
She said martial law was giving bad name to the country. Recalling
history, she said for five decades generals seized power and blamed
the politicians for poor governance. Each time they became "dry
cleaning machines to dry clean the politicians". She said the
country had seen four military dictators and the generals should
analyze the fact whether politicians were really responsible or
something was wrong with "dry cleaning machines".
She said in fact politicians were being systematically undermined
by some generals, who had led to humiliation through Tashkent
Declaration, loss of East Pakistan, Siachen glacier, the
humiliating withdrawal from Kargil and the collapse of economy. Ms
Bhutto expressed her concern over failure of the military regime to
enforce United Nations' decision, which led to the physical
presence of UN monitors in Pakistan.
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20010803
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General Ziauddin dismissed from service
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Aug 2: Lt-Gen Ziauddin, who had been appointed chief of
the army staff by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Oct 12,
1999, to replace Gen Pervez Musharraf as COAS, was dismissed from
service, an official announcement said. Gen Ziauddin was the head
of Inter Services Intelligence when he was appointed COAS.
The appointment, however, could not materialize as he was not given
charge and Gen Musharraf, after coming back from Sri Lanka, removed
the PML government. Gen Ziauddin and Brig Javed Iqbal, the then
military secretary to the prime minister, were taken into custody
after the military takeover. Iqbal has already been dismissed from
service. A terse Inter Services Public Relations announcement
stated: "PA-6989, Lieutenant General Ziauddin has been dismissed
from service for offences prejudicial/detrimental to good order and
military discipline."
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20010802
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pilgrims to pay more for Haj next year: policy announced
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Aug 1: The federal cabinet approved the Haj policy for
the year 2001-2002, increasing the total number of Haj pilgrims to
120,000.
Announcing the salient features of new Haj policy, the Federal
Minister for Religious Affairs, Dr Mehmud Ahmed Ghazi, told a news
conference that due to sharp rupee devaluation the Haj expenses
were increased to Rs105,500 for those going from Karachi and
Rs109,000 for those going from four other stations.
He said the banks would start receiving applications for Regular
and Sponsorship schemes from August 8. Dr Ghazi said 45,000 people
would perform Haj under Regular Scheme and 75,000 under Sponsorship
scheme who would be allowed to opt for government-arranged
accommodation or privately-hired buildings.
He said an open Haj scheme had been launched which was a voluntary
facility, designed to oblige those not interested in performing Haj
under government arrangement. While explaining the justification
for allowing PIA to raise fare by 15 per cent, the minister said
last year dollar was available at Rs53, but now it was available at
Rs66. Moreover, the PIA has increased its fares on all routes, he
said.
He said the new Haj policy had been prepared after a series of
consultative meetings between stakeholders, Haj Directorate
officials, Saudi officials and Ulema in order to remove all the
complaints received in the past due to poor arrangements.
The number of exit points for Haj pilgrims has been reduced to five
- Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Quetta and Peshawar - while Sukkur,
Multan and Faisalabad have been dropped for the time being due to
insufficient facilities at smaller airports, the minister said.
The minister said personal exchange quota would likely to be $1200
per pilgrim while the duration of stay in Saudi Arabia would remain
40 days. Dr Ghazi said any individual or group who would like to
make own arrangements for ticket and accommodation would be able to
do so without needing the NOC from the ministry. He said those
desirous of making their own accommodation arrangement would have
to provide proof of accommodation before leaving for Saudi Arabia.
Such applicants would have to intimate the Religious Affairs
Ministry within a stipulated period enabling it to make proper
arrangements.
The Haj pilgrims who fail to furnish documentary proof of their
independent accommodation arrangements will be able to get the
government arranged facility in case their request is received on
time. He said efforts would be made to acquire accommodation in
Makkah Mukarramah and Madinah Munawarah at the maximum limit of
Rs1800 and minimum Rs1000 to ensure maximum comforts for pilgrims.
The facilities for Haj pilgrims, the minister disclosed, have been
divided into three categories A, B and C. He said the PIA would be
asked to prepare its schedule in such a way as would allow return
of every Haji within 40 days.
The government has also decided to maintain the ban on all quotas
except for labour organizations, benevolent fund and defence
services quotas. The schedule of Haj applications under Regular and
Sponsorship schemes and Open Hajj scheme will be as follows:
Applications under Regular scheme would be received from Aug 8 to
Aug 28. Application under Sponsorship scheme would be received from
Aug 8 to Sept 8.
Applications with late fee of Rs5000 under Sponsorship scheme would
be received from Sept 8 to Sept 21. Applications for open Haj
scheme would be received from Nov 1 to Nov 14. Applications with
late double fee of Rs10,000 under Sponsorship scheme would be
received from Nov 15 to Nov 30.
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20010729
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Iran turns down Pakistan request
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Rafaqat Ali
ISLAMABAD, July 28: Iran has politely refused to entertain
Pakistan's request for giving its vehicles transit facilities to
approach Central Asian Republics. Official sources told Dawn that
Pakistan, at the Joint Ministerial Commission meeting held in
Tehran last week, had sought that its vehicles carrying goods be
allowed passage to Central Asian Republics through Iran.
The Iranian government responded that Pakistani vehicles would be
permitted to travel deep into Iranian territory up to the CARs
borders. However, they would not be allowed to cross CAS border as
from that point goods would have to be transported in Iranian
vehicles. Sources said that Pakistan had made the request for the
transit facility last year as it wanted to take its fruits to CARs
markets. The request was accepted by Iran but at a time when the
season of citrus was already over.
The Iranian authorities conveyed to Pakistan in the second
fortnight of February that its request had been accepted and that
Pakistan would be free to transport its citrus fruit to CARs till
the end of March. At the last week meeting, Pakistan had also
raised the issue of Iran's "going slow" on the development of the
railway track from Zahidan to Kirman, which would allow Pakistan to
establish railway links not only with Economic Cooperation
Organization states but also with Europe through Turkey.
Under the ECO decision in 1990, all the member states had to
establish railway links. Iran, however, did not develop railway
links from Zahidan to Kirman. Iranian authorities assured Pakistan
delegation that the railway track would be ready by 2004. However,
they asked Pakistan to upgrade its railway track from Quetta to
Taftan, saying as it was not up to the mark.
Pakistan had asked the Iranian authorities to make efforts for
narrowing the trade imbalance. Last year, Pakistan imported goods
worth $130 million from Iran. In contrast, Iran imported from
Pakistan goods worth $11 million only.
Pakistan had also raised the issue of levy of taxes from its
truckers and bus drivers, asking the Iranian government to
eliminate the taxes.
The Iranian authorities assured that except $27 per truck, no other
tax would be charged on vehicles coming from Pakistan. Iran is
charging $27 from each truck up to Zahidan as fuel surcharge on the
ground that fuel in Iran is available at prices lower than what
they are in Pakistan.
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20010731
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40-foot rise in Mangla dam height approved
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Faraz Hashmi
ISLAMABAD, July 30: President Gen Pervez Musharraf approved the
controversial Mangla Dam project under which the dam's height would
be raised by 40 feet at a cost of Rs53 billion.
"The project has been approved in principle. However, a formal
announcement to this effect will be made later," a highly-placed
source told Dawn. The approval was accorded at a meeting presided
over by Gen Musharraf and attended among others by Water and Power
Secretary Mirza Hamid Hassan, Wapda chairman Lt-Gen Zulfiqar Ali
Khan, and Information Secretary Anwar Mahmood.
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20010802
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Tarbela Dam's storage capacity decreases
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Intikhab Amir
TARBELA, Aug 1: Inability on the part of the Tarbela Dam's
management to maintain the minimum operating level at 1,369 feet
due to greater irrigation requirements during the Kharif season has
decreased the life storage capacity of the dam, official sources
told Dawn.
The sources said the pressing irrigation requirements down the
stream necessitated to bring down the level to 1,369 feet twice in
April last, which was against the recommendation of consultants.
The consultant firms, TAMS and HR Wailling Fort, in one of their
three main recommendations under a study back in 1998, had
suggested that minimum operating level (MOL) of the Tarbela
reservoir should be raised by four feet every year to cope with the
silt problem. It was recommended that MOL should be maintained at
four feet higher than the preceding year. Besides, it was
recommended that the MOL raised so (by four feet every year) should
not be maintained beyond 15 days to avoid accumulation of silt in
the reservoir.
"They had recommended that maintaining the reservoir level at the
MOL for more than 15 days would lend a negative impact to the water
storage capacity of the reservoir," said a senior official. The
sources said the recommendation could not be implemented due to
increasing irrigation requirements in Punjab and Sindh. Officers of
the water and power department of the Tarbela Dam project said the
country needed a new mega water storage project to cope with its
future irrigation requirements.
The under water delta of silt, which was at a distance of nine
kilometers from the dam, moved three kilometers close to it last
year after the reservoir level had to be brought down to 1,321
feet. Official sources said by lowering the level to 1,321 feet
last year the reservoir lost storage capacity equivalent to 10
years.
Sources said the reservoir had lost 50 per cent of its dead storage
capacity. After the reservoir lost three million acre feet (maf) of
its total 11 maf water storage capacity, the minimum operating
level was fixed at 1,369 feet in 1998, which was ignored on several
occasions to meet the requirements of irrigation water in Punjab
and Sindh.
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20010801
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Two die as Tezrao derails
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Correspondent
BAHAWALPUR, July 31: Two persons were killed and 17 injured when
the Rawalpindi-bound 5-Up Tezro derailed at Tibbi Izzat railway
station near Dera Nawab (Ahmadpur East.
Following the accident in which 14 coaches were derailed, traffic
on the main line remained suspended for 21 hours. All express and
passenger trains were either re-routed or halted at different
stations.
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20010801
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Govt failed to check terrorism: PML
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, July 31: A spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League(N)
said that assassination of six persons, including government
officials, politicians and a religious leader, in broad daylight
within five days testified to the failure of the military
government in protecting life of law-abiding citizens.
Taking exception to the unchecked killing spree of the terrorists,
the PML spokesman said that on July 26, the managing director of
Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Shaukat Mirza and his driver were
assassinated in Karachi. Two days later, PML leaders Muhammad
Siddique Khan Kanju and Aslam Joya were killed in Lodhran in a
packed bazaar. He said that on July 30, the Ministry of Defence
director, Zafar Hussain Zaidi, was murdered in Karachi, followed by
the killing of a religious leader Syed Rizwan Shah in Lahore, the
same day.
These recent incidents showed that the government was not capable
of providing protection even to important government functionaries,
what to talk about common citizens. The spokesman said the never-
ending incidents of terrorism, dacoities and abduction for ransom
had tarnished the image of the country in the eyes of international
community, strengthening their impression about Pakistan as a
country without laws.
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20010731
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Benazir voices concern over law and order situation
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, July 30: PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto has expressed
deep concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the
country and demanded the government to fulfill its basic
responsibility of providing security to its citizens.
"It is shocking to see the country sliding into abyss of anarchy
and lawlessness as the wielders of power turn a blind eye to what
is happening," she said in a statement issued here by the PPP media
cell.
Masked terrorists gunned down Syed Zafar Hussain, Director of
Research Department, Ministry of Defence, in Karachi. She said this
was the fourth such target killing in as many days in different
parts of the country - from Dera Ismail Khan in the Frontier
province to Lodhran and Lahore in the Punjab and Karachi in Sindh.
Ms Bhutto said that four high profile assassinations have occurred
throughout the country during the last four days, had exposed the
hollowness of the government's campaign to recover illegal weapons.
She said that making the country weapons-free required political
will and courage and could not be eliminated by hollow rhetoric.
She asked the government to arrest all the terrorists involved in
such heinous acts and give them exemplary punishment.
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20010731
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Jhangvi group says it is responsible
-------------------------------------------------------------------
KARACHI, July 30: The Lashkar-i-Jhangvi has claimed responsibility
for the murder of PSO managing director Shaukat Mirza and the
defence ministry official, Syed Zafar Hussain. In a joint press
statement, chief of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi Riaz Basra and Lashkar's
divisional chief, Lal Mohammed have claimed responsibility for both
the killings.
They also warned that any government functionary resorting to abuse
of power would face the same fate. "We had urged the President,
General Pervez Musharraf, not to implement the death sentence
awarded to Sheikh Haq Nawaz as it could prove harmful for the
integrity of the country but the government went ahead with its
plan to appease a neighbouring country," said the statement. -NNI
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20010729
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Siddiq Kanju, former MPA shot dead
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Nadeem Saeed
MULTAN, July 28: Siddiq Khan Kanju, the former minister of state
for foreign affairs, and former MPA Mohammad Aslam Joiya were shot
dead by four assailants at Kehror Pucca.
A candidate for the Lodhran district Nazim, Kanju and his
companions were at a corner meeting in Karim Bazaar when a white
Toyota Corolla car (MNY-4375) stopped there at 5:55pm. The driver
remained on his seat as three men, who, according to some witnesses
were in their early 20s, got out of the car and opened fire at
Kanju with automatic revolvers.
As Kanju and Aslam Joiya fell, the attackers shot and injured Dr
Akbar Kanju, a cousin and brother-in-law of Siddiq Kanju, who was
sitting in a jeep parked nearby. The assailants also shot and
injured Sheikh Riaz Iqbal, a former vice-chairman of the Kehror
Pucca municipal committee, when he tried to overpower one of them.
The assailants then fled in their car.
Kanju died on the spot and Aslam Joiya succumbed to injuries on way
to the civil hospital. Akbar Kanju and Sheikh Riaz were shifted to
the Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur, for their serious
condition.
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20010731
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Two more fall prey to target killing
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dawn Report
KARACHI, July 30: A senior defence ministry official and a prayer
leader were gunned down by unidentified people in Karachi and
Lahore respectively, in what police said were target killings.
In Karachi, a senior official of the Ministry of Defence was
ambushed by three unidentified motorcyclists near his Nazimabad
residence on Monday morning. His driver, however, miraculously
escaped unhurt. It was the second target killing in the past four
days. Earlier on July 26, the managing director of the Pakistan
State Oil, Shaukat Raza Mirza, and his driver, were shot dead by
two masked assailants in Clifton.
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20010801
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ex-IB chief gets eight years' RI in graft case
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
RAWALPINDI, July 31: Former Intelligence Bureau chief Brig Imtiaz
Ahmad was sentenced to eight years' rigorous imprisonment and fined
Rs7.1 million in a corruption case, by the Judge, accountability
court III, Sakhi Hussain Bokhari.
The co-accused, Adnan A. Khwaja, was awarded two years' RI and
fined Rs200,000 and Nadeem Imtiaz,son of the ex-IB chief, was
sentenced to three years' RI under, section 31(a) of the NAB
Ordinance, in absentia. The court directed Brig Imtiaz, who served
as the director-general, IB, during the Nawaz Sharif government, to
pay the fine within one month. He court also ordered forfeiture of
all the properties, acquired in his name or in the name of his
dependants, in favour of the government.
The Islamabad properties, which will be confiscated, include house
No 286 F-10/4, unit No 2 and 9, at I-S Plaza, F-10 Markaz; house No
7, Street No 20, F-7/2; and house No 6 on the 9th avenue, F-8/2.
The court granted the benefit of section 382(b) to both the
convicts, which means that the conviction will be counted from May
26, 2000, the day on which the former IB chief was arrested. Brig
Imtiaz was charged with amassing assets, both movable and
immovable, which were disproportionate to his known source of
income. The properties were in his own name and in the names of his
wife, son ( Nadeem) and his front men, including Adnan and
approvers Abdul Ghaffar Chauhan and Shamshad Ali.
The accused had also acquired properties as Benamidars and
possessed foreign exchange bearer certificates, worth Rs20 million,
which had been encashed by him, according to the case. Later, Brig
Imtiaz told reporters that he would challenge his conviction in the
high court, and added that, in his view, the punishment awarded by
the court was quite stringent.
He claimed that his conscience was clear as he had never committed
any crime or compromised on principles. "During my 17 years of
professional career, I served this country without fear or favour
and countered both internal and external threats against the
country and never allowed my personal interest or family matters to
interfere in my duties," he observed. He said he had no remorse for
the troubles he was in or hardships his family was facing, because
he had always considered his job a sacred duty.
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20010804
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mansurul Haq's remand extended for 11 days
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
RAWALPINDI, Aug 3: The remand of ex-naval chief admiral (Rtd)
Mansurul Haq was again extended for 11 days by the accountability
court. Mansurul Haq is required to be produced again before court
on August 13 with the assurance by the prosecution that
investigations are on the last stage and a supplementary reference
will soon be submitted.
The former naval chief is facing charges of receiving kickbacks and
commission in a defence deal. The additional deputy prosecutor
general, Abdul Baseer Qureshi, appeared before court and asked for
extension of remand for another 11 days.
The prosecution stated before the court that the matter was
sensitive as it involved many classified documents, besides new
information had also come to light, therefore, more time was
needed. He stated that a variety of material including details
about defence deals, different offshore companies and properties
had to be collected.
This is the sixth time that the remand of the accused had been
extended after his voluntary return to the country.
The reference accused the former naval chief of receiving
$3,369,383 through transfer of money from M/s Titan Europe to M/s
Foraker and then to M/s Moylegrove. Similarly, Amir Lodhi, brother
of Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, received $1,739,282
allegedly from these illegal transactions.
The reference accused that Amir Lodhi was instrumental in obtaining
commissions and kickbacks in defence deals on his own as well as on
Admiral Haq's behalf. Meanwhile, the same court directed the
authorities to provide a copy of corruption reference against
Chaudhry Mohammad Zaman, ex-deputy director, Agriculture Extension
Rawalpindi.
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20010804
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Court orders Asif's production: Double-murder case
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Correspondent
HYDERABAD, Aug 3: The judge of Hyderabad STA court issued a notice
to the Karachi Central Prison's superintendent to produce Asif Ali
Zardari before the court for the hearing of a double-murder case of
Alam Baloch and his gunman in the judicial complex of the central
prison on Aug 25.
The notice was issued after the jail administration did not inform
the court whether Mr Zardari was confined in the jail. All the main
accused in the case were on bail.
The trial of the case would be held inside the central prison as
per a notification, issued by the Sindh government. Farooq Hameed
Naek, who was representing Asif Zardari in other cases, pending
before an accountability court, did not file his power on behalf of
him in the double-murder case on July 7.
The main accused were former MNA Hakim Ali Zardari, his son, Asif
Ali Zardari, former senator Abdul Latif Ansari, his brothers Abdul
Shakoor Ansari and Abdul Hafiz Ansari, Porho Zardari, Ghulam Nabi
Zardari and Zafar Meerani.
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20010804
-------------------------------------------------------------------
PPP claims victory on 80pc seats
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 3: The Pakistan People's Party has claimed that it has
secured success in over 80 per cent of seats in urban and rural
areas in the local bodies elections across the country. In a
statement, a PPP spokesman said like other provinces the Awam Dost
Panel of the party had also registered record success in Punjab.
The spokesman said that the victory on such a large scale was a
testimony of people's faith in the leadership of Party chairperson
Benazir Bhutto. Meanwhile, the party has decided to form
coordination committees as part of a new strategy for the run-off
elections in Karachi on Aug 8.
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20010804
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureaucrats top list of men under NAB probe
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By M. Ismail Khan
PESHAWAR, Aug 3: Bureaucrats top the list of those who are under
investigation of the National Accountability Bureau, followed by
politicians, businessmen and personnel of armed forces, a document
released by the NAB reveals.
In its latest report 'Spectrum of Operations,' the National
Accountability Bureau says it is investigating corruption cases
against 314 bureaucrats including officers in grade 20 and above,
which is 49.88 per cent of the total 594 under-investigation cases
of all categories. Politicians with a total of 169 cases under
investigation are second on the list as their share of comes to
about 32.84 per cent. A total of 40 businessmen who are mostly
involved in bank default or tax evasion or duty drawback are facing
investigation by the NAB with a share of 6.25 per cent.
The document says that the NAB had authorized 407 investigation
cases against 388 bureaucrats including 112 officers in grade 20 &
above and 276 in grade 19 and below. Similarly, 268 investigations
were ordered against 177 politicians. NAB also authorized 17
investigations against 10 individuals from the armed forces.
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20010803
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Al-Qaida warns US against attack on Osama
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Aug 2: The Al-Qaida organization, claimed to be
affiliated to Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, has warned America
against launching an attack on Osama, "lest the Mujahideen will
retaliate" by targeting its citizens the world over.
In a fax statement signed by the organization's self-proclaimed
chief military commander, Naseer Ahmed, the Al-Qaida asked Pakistan
not to cooperate with the US on the Osama issue as it was a
conflict between Afghanistan and America.
It said the "get Osama mission" being undertaken by the American
assistant secretary of state would never be fulfilled since the
"Mujahideen were fully alert and were capable of replying the enemy
in the same coin." It warned the US and India that the American
embassies in India and Pakistan could be targeted by the Mujahideen
any moment.
The statement said: "We have achieved balance of power by offering
sacrifices, the Muslim Ummah should adopt a strong stand on Kashmir
in order to secure its freedom, which will only be achieved through
jihad and not negotiations."
"No Muslim could evade the duty of jihad and wherever the
Mujahideen were busy in armed struggle they were performing their
bounded duty," it said, and added, "all the rulers of Muslim states
were working on the Zionist and American agenda." It said the
criminal intention of Jews to construct "Solomon Temple" was a
conspiracy and a challenge for the Muslims that could be thwarted
only through complete unity among Muslims.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
20010803
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Servicing of debt to cost Rs329bn in current fiscal
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ISLAMABAD, Aug 2: Debt servicing, both domestic and foreign, will
cost an amount of Rs329.184 billion during the fiscal 2001-2002,
reflecting an increase of 6.8 per cent over the revised estimates
of last fiscal.
During the fiscal 2001-02, Rs197.86 billion has been indicated for
payment of interest on domestic debt, Rs62.24 billion interest on
foreign debt, and Rs69.07 billion under foreign loan repayments.
Under the current expenditure, the civil government has been
allocated Rs80.610 billion. The allocation under this head in the
fiscal 2000-01 had been Rs80.174 billion.
Under the civil government allocation, general administration will
receive Rs47.55 billion, law and order Rs10.22 billion, community
services Rs7.14 billion, social services Rs12.31 billion, and
economic services Rs3.37 billion. Unallocable amount is to the tune
of Rs10.29 billion against revised unallocable budget of Rs291
million during the fiscal.
Grants will cost an amount of Rs49.29 billion during the current
fiscal against revised grants of Rs36.76 billion of last fiscal,
with Rs9.62 billion to the provinces, Rs3.19 billion to AJK, Rs4.80
billion to railway, Rs7.22 billion O&Z grants and Rs26.94 billion
to others. While subsidies will cost Rs20.68 billion against the
revised subsidies of Rs22.70 billion last year, posting a decline
by over Rs2 billion.- APP
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20010803
-------------------------------------------------------------------
WB, IFC assessment under way: Private sector issues
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jawaid Bokhari
KARACHI, Aug 2: the World Bank and its affiliate International
Finance Corporation (IFC) are jointly carrying out an assessment of
private sector issues and regulatory constraints to private sector
development.
A joint World Bank-IFC team is also currently engaged in an in-
depth review of five main industries - sugar, cement, textiles,
fertilizer and steel - which according to bank are operating under
a very distorted policy environment.
The World Bank has also initiated a firm-level survey to identify
the constraints on the growth and performance of small and medium
sized enterprises. These studies are part of the World Bank's
Pakistan's assistance strategy (PAS). Simultaneously, the
government has announced that it intends to set up a deregulation
committee headed by an eminent personality from the private sector
to identify problem areas and make recommendations for
liberalization.
Helped by analyses carried out by the bank, the PAS progress report
says that the government intends to deregulate the large protected
industrial sector, including power, oil, gas and
telecommunications. For building an environment for private
investment and sustainable growth, World Bank's key prescriptions
are trade liberalization, deregulation and privatization including
banks, power, oil and gas and transport sectors.
The PAS report says that IFC's ability to do business in Pakistan
has been constrained. The 1998 balance of payments crisis, large
external indebtedness, political instability, disputes with
investors (especially in the power sector) and loss of investors'
confidence have increased the perceived risk and discouraged new
investment. Moreover, distortionary policies, for example for
cement, automotive oil and gas further deter private investment and
handicap IFC's support.
The IFC delegation led by Ellen Iskenderian told finance minister
Shaukat Aziz late last month that several projects were under
consideration of the corporation. The IFC is considering further
investment in the financial sector, the gas sector etc.
The World Bank report says that the pace of future IFC investment
will depend on continued progress towards economic and political
stability, a more transparent, non-discriminatory and market-based
policy environment and privatization of banks and other public
enterprises. Priorities for future IFC investment are to develop
the financial sector to improve access to finance small and medium-
sized industries and micro-enterprises, improve efficiency of
commercial banking, investment in gas production and
transportation, support for private investment in infrastructure
and investment in industries with growth prospects which can be
competitive without dependence on the government protection and
subsidies.
The IFC's investments in financial sector are, however, linked to
removal of uncertainty regarding the implication and implementation
of Sharia code on all financial transactions. So far, IFC has
focused on restructuring its own portfolio and helping existing
clients restructure and strengthen their companies's balance-sheet.
This has led to cancellation of $260m in commitments to 23
companies. As a result, Pakistan now ranks as IFC's eighth largest
exposure, down from sixth in December 1998.
IFC's disbursed own account portfolio is currently $447m in 45
companies, of which 38pc is in five IPP projects, all of them
operational. The B Loan portfolio is currently $254m in 13
companies, with a strong concentration (57 per cent) in power. Of
the 45 portfolio companies, nine are not current, $64m are overdue
and in non-accrual, while the reserves for loan losses are $80m.
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20010803
-------------------------------------------------------------------
IMF mission to open talks on PRGF: $596m SBA to end in Sept
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Mohiuddin Aazim
KARACHI, Aug 2: The IMF standby agreement or 10-month standby
credit programe currently in operation in Pakistan would end in
September, and any extension in SBA or its conversion into a long
term program seems out of question.
Sources close to ministry of finance said that the IMF review
mission due in Islamabad in mid-August would evaluate Pakistan's
economic performance in fiscal 2000-01 besides holding talks on
poverty reduction and growth facility.
They said there are no indications about Pakistan seeking an
extension in SBA or its conversion into PRGF adding the IMF is less
likely to weigh such prospects. Since Pakistan has met most of key
performance criteria set for the last quarter of fiscal 2000-01 the
mission should not have difficulty in recommending the release of
fourth tranche out of the $596 million standby credit.
Pakistan has so far received three tranches worth $457 million and
the release of the fourth one is linked to its meeting the
performance criteria set for April-June 2001. The previous three
tranches were also released only after Pakistan had met quarterly
performance criteria.
The sources said the five-member IMF mission would split into two
groups: one would review the economic performance of Pakistan in
line with the performance criteria attached to SBA, and the other
would hold negotiations on PRGF. But they could not say how early
the fourth tranche would come in.
It will depend on how quickly the mission wraps up its report and
how early the IMF board of directors takes up the issue. The third
tranche was released quite late-in mid-July-although the IMF
mission had visited Pakistan as early as in May to assess if it has
met the performance criteria set for January-March 2001.
The sources said since the 10-month SBA approved on November 30,
2000 is going to expire in September there is naturally no
performance criteria for Pakistan in July-September quarter. But
they made it clear that indicative targets already set for this
quarter would remain in place. If Pakistan meets the same it would
help Islamabad improve its image and pave the way for PRGF.
The sources said the talks due in mid-August between Pakistan and
the IMF review mission would be the start of a series of
negotiations to be held in future at different levels. They also
made it clear that the time-frame and the size of PRGF would be
determined only after the IMF is satisfied that Pakistan can remain
on track, a prescribed program stretched at least over three years.
They further said that even before securing PRGF Pakistan would
have to show its willingness to follow the IMF lead by taking
certain specific actions.
These actions might include further liberalization of foreign
exchange regime (read convertibility of the rupee on capital
account); further documentation of the economy and withdrawal of
the remaining subsidies and a whole bunch of measures to ensure
good governance at all tiers of government and state-run bodies.
Pakistan is pinning high hopes on PRGF for bailing out the debt-
laden country and its economic managers have been saying that PRGF
would be of the size of $2.5-$3 billion. They say that after being
on track, a three-year PRGF the economy would be stabilized and
would start to grow at a desired pace. But lately several leading
economists have questioned the efficacy of the IMF prescriptions
tagged with $596 million SBA that, according to them, have failed.
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20010801
-------------------------------------------------------------------
WB official warns against risks in banks sell-off
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jawaid Bokhari
KARACHI, July 31: A World Bank official has cautioned authorities
against the risks in process of privatization of state-run banks.
In a presentation made before senior bankers on 'finance for
growth' Patrick Honohan, lead economist, Development Research
Group, Development Economies, said it should be ensured that the
buyers put their own money "and it does not turn out to be a case
of banks buying banks."
He also recalled that Mexico's experience showed that the funds of
the privatized banks were used by interest groups acquiring state-
run banks "to channel resources to their (purchasers) own firms."
Such a privatization is dangerous, he concluded.
Under the prudential regulations, the State Bank allows a bank to
invest 30 per cent of the paid-up capital of a company or
enterprise. Normally, in the first phase, about 26 per cent of the
government stakes in any bank is divested. Patrick Honhan, however,
favoured privatization of state-run banks as politicians influence
bank decisions and affect their efficiency.
First on the privatization agenda is United Bank, which is expected
to be followed by Habib Bank. The Expressions of Interest received
for the UBL include four banks - two Omanese and two Pakistani
banks. The domestic banks are Muslim Commercial Bank and Union
Bank. Privatization of MCB has been a success.
Market reports indicate that controlling group of MCB, led by Mian
Mansha has acquired 38 per cent of the outstanding equity of the
largest insurance company, Adamjee Insurance. Analysts at Merrill
Lynch say that "we understand that the Mansha Group has given
assurances to Adamjee's existing management regarding non-
interference; we believe that it is only a matter of time before
the dynamic Mian Mansha begins to manifest his influence on the
company." In that eventuality, these financial analysts see a scope
for significantly broadening the product range of MCB via cross
selling through Adamjee's policyholder base and vice-versa.
The Union Bank headed by former HBL and Citibank country chief
Shaukat Tareen recently acquired Bank of America branches. The bank
has been looking for opportunities to expand. In the past, it had
also indicated interest in privatization of Allied Bank. The
authors of the World Bank Policy Research Report "Finance for
Growth" concludes that privatization design is of second order
importance compared with the need to create a competitive-oriented
banking system that will allocate credit in line with commercial,
rather than political practices.
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20010731
-------------------------------------------------------------------
$32m loan accord signed with Japan
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ISLAMABAD, July 30: Japan's state agency for economic aid said that
it would loan Pakistan up to 4.032 billion Yen (about $32 million)
for the construction of Kohat Tunnel Phase-II. Agreement to this
effect was inked in Tokyo by the governor of Japan Bank for
International Cooperation, Kyosuke Shinozawa, and Ambassador of
Pakistan to Japan, Touqir Hussain.
The initial Japanese assistance for the same project was provided
in 1994. The fresh assistance was announced last year during the
visit of the then Japanese prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, to
Pakistan. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Shinozawa appreciated the
economic reforms of the government and expressed the hope that the
loan would contribute to the economic development of Pakistan.
The ambassador said that Kohat project would contribute to the
development of the region. He hoped that the signing of the
agreement would lead to a review of the sanctions by Japan.
The loan will cover the second phase of the project to build the
1,885-metre Kohat tunnel on the Indus highway, linking Peshawar and
Kohat, a bank statement said. The latest loan will carry an annual
interest rate of 1.8 per cent and be repayable in 30 years with a
grace period of 10 years.-Agencies
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20010804
-------------------------------------------------------------------
PIA to get Rs4.730bn loan from local banks
-------------------------------------------------------------------
KARACHI, Aug 3: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was able to
obtain a loan of Rs 4.730 billion for bridge financing from a
consortium of Pakistani banks described as the largest-ever
consortium comprising of National, United, Allied and Askari Banks.
The agreement was signed on behalf of PIA by its Managing Director,
Ahmed Saeed and Syed Ali Raza, Aamir Zafar and others on behalf of
banking consortium. Speaking on the occasion the MD PIA, Ahmed
Saeed announced that the airline will return the loan in 60 days.
Later talking to newsmen Ahmed Saeed said that the loan is expected
to go up to Rs 5.5 billion when Muslim Commercial Bank will also
join the consortium.
The MD PIA said the amount will be used to repay the public debt,
salaries of workers and bringing improvement in the aircraft like
betterment of seats and inflight conditions and safety of aircraft.
He pointed out that another Rs 6 billion will be restructured next
week and remaining Rs 9 billion will also be coming in the next 60
days when PIA will go for sale of TFCs.
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20010729
-------------------------------------------------------------------
CBR cell to review task force recommendations
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Mubarak Zeb Khan
ISLAMABAD, July 28: The government has established a Tax Reforms
Cell at the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) to review the
recommendations of the Task Force on Restructuring Tax
Administration. Sources in the CBR told Dawn that the cell would be
headed by the newly promoted member CBR M.S Lal formerly Chief,
Income Tax Coordinator.
The proposed system of re-structuring the income tax, business
process and organization would be implemented in three phases. The
first phase, lasting about six months, would be devoted to
extensive planning and budgeting, organizational restructuring,
training, and reengineering of processes as preparation for the
implementation of the proposed reform. In the second phase,
beginning on January 2002, a pilot program would be run in two
income tax regions - the proposed regions are the eastern region
and Corporate Region, Karachi, the sources said.
It is proposed that the reform program is implemented in its
entirety in the pilot regions, and simultaneously during this
phase. A number of new systems and procedure are introduced in the
other income tax regions. In the third stage, beginning on January
2003, after learning lessons from the pilot, the system will be
implemented in the other three regions as well, the source said.
To make the income tax machinery an effective one, the task force
recommended that the fundamental responsibility for declaring
income and assessing taxes should lie with the taxpayer, there
should be selective and professionally conducted audit supported by
survey and research capability and databases which would assist in
the selection of cases for audit and in the quality of audit.
It was proposed that there should be stiff penalties, for taxpayers
for willful tax evasion, there should be minimum direct contact
between tax officials and taxpayers and information technology
should play a central role in processing tax returns, selection of
cases for audit and day to day work for tax officials.
There should be separation of functions to enable specialization, a
critical mass of tax officials and technology specialists should be
assembled in selected places to ensure effective and efficient
service to taxpayers, the committee proposed to the government.
The task force recommended that 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. It was recommended that under each RCIT
there would be six divisions headed by CITs. These are management
information system, operations and audit, legal and prosecution,
survey and research, customer service, enforcement and collection
and inspection and internal audit.
Elaborating further, the sources said that the management
information system division would be responsible for data entry,
processing, storage, up keep, access and security of all databases.
This will allow efficient handling of a number of important
functions in the department, in particular processing of tax
returns, filing and record keeping, tax audit, and its supervision
and monitoring of tax collection and policy analysis.
To make the audit less arbitrary and less discriminatory, the task
force proposed to free all the auditors from all major non-audit
responsibilities. This is the reason for creating a separate
operations and audit division. The division, in addition to conduct
income tax audits, would also be responsible for system audit for
ensuring compliance to withholding taxes as well as compliance to
audit of non-taxpayers.
It was proposed that the criteria used for selection of taxpayers
for audit should be objective as some taxpayers should be selected
purely randomly and others on the basis of risk profile of
taxpayers.
The task force recommended that the Legal and Prosecution Division
should first define precisely the probable offences discovered
through the audit and prescribe penalties for them, handle appeals
emanating from the audit process, and handle prosecution of cases
of concealment and fraud.
It was proposed that the Customer Service Enforcement and
Collection Division (CSECD) would be responsible for tax collection
as well as taxpayer assistance and education. However, CSECD will
also carry out the responsibilities of receipt of requests for
registration and de-registration and passing them on to the central
data centre with findings and recommendations, receipt of tax
returns for transmission to the information management center,
pursuit of non-filers, recording of appeal effects, receiving
requests for extension of deadlines for filing of tax returns, and
deciding on them with given guidelines, receiving applications for
rectification and passing them to information management center,
collection, taxpayer education.
The committee recommended that the Inspection and Internal Audit
Division will carry out the responsibility of internal audit of the
Operations and Audit Division, audit of tax refunds issued by MIS
division, and reopening of cases under section 65 and revision
under section 66 A.
It was proposed that the income tax process will start with
taxpayers sending their returns to the customer service centers and
from there these returns would be sent to the MIS division. At the
MIS division, the return would be checked for arithmetic errors.
When these errors are found, demand notices will be sent to the
taxpayers.
The division will also send notices to non-filers. The tax
enforcement and collection wing of the Customer Service,
Enforcement and Collection Division will follow up on tax demand
notices as well as track non-filers.
All tax returns will also be reconciled with withholding taxes at
the MIS Division. In case refunds are due, refund voucher will be
issued. Disputes regarding refunds, and requests for exemption
certificates by the taxpayer will be handled through the
appropriate wing of the Customer Service, Enforcement and
Collection Division.
The selection of cases for audit will be handled by MIS division.
Selected cases for audit will be assigned to CIT audit who will
assign these audit teams some of which will be constituted around
business specialization. After the audit is completed, the officer
in charge of the audit team will issue the assessment order along
with demand notice. Collection of tax demand will be the
responsibility of the Customer Service, Enforcement and Collection
Division. In cases of serious tax evasion, the matter will be
referred to the legal department for prosecution.
It was also recommended that the taxpayer Assistance Wing of
Customer Service Division would handle cases of taxpayer queries
and complaints. The appeal against the decision of the department
will follow the same process as in the present system with the
first appeal lying with the Commissioner appeals and thereafter
with the income tax tribunal, the High Court and the Supreme Court.
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20010801
-------------------------------------------------------------------
35 cos suspension creates unrest among investors
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Dilawar Hussain
KARACHI, July 31: The decision by the Karachi Stock Exchange to
'suspend' as many as thirty-five companies effective July 16, has
created unrest among the small shareholders, who lament that all
their investment in those companies may have gone down the drain.
But the managing director KSE, Noman Ahmed, justifies the move,
which he says, was entirely in 'public interest'.
The number of companies suspended- 35- looks phenomenal, compared
with only eleven companies that were suspended in the last three
years, combined. KSE MD told Dawn that the 35 companies put under
suspension in July, were picked up from among the 120 that are
languishing on the 'defaulters' counter' for violations under
section 32 (1) of the listing regulations. He cited host of reasons
for their suspension: "Many of them have not responded to KSE
notices; some such as Bankers' Equity are under liquidation, while
many others simply do not exist," said Noman. He agreed that small
investors who had taken stake in those companies could go to lose
money- unless they get something on liquidation. And unfortunate as
that was, it was the new unsuspecting investors that the stock
exchange wanted to protect.
"If such companies remain listed, new investors not knowing their
current status could dabble in those stocks and eventually find
themselves trapped," the KSE MD said.
The companies suspended by the KSE on July 16 include: 1st Tawakkal
Modaraba; Hamraz Industries; Kohinoor Looms; Zahur Textile;
Tawakkal Polyester; Mian Mohammad Sugar; Multipole Industries; Al-
Husainy Industries; Tawakkal Limited; Standard Insurance; Ayaz
Textile; Mohib Export; National Silk; Data Agro Limited; Muslim
Ghee; Crown Textile; Marr Fabrics; Sarhad Ghee; Sunflo Cit-Russ;
Ittefaq Textile; Tawakkal Garments; Sadiqabad Textile; Pearl
Fabrics; Sunrise Textile; Aswan Tentage; Nilom Nylon; Karachi Pipe
Mills; Hyderabad Electronics; Adamjee Paper; Adamjee Floorings;
Calico Cotton; Harnai Woollen; Bela Engineers; Nusrat Textile and
Bankers' Equity.
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20010801
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Sugar stock adequate, notes ECC: Forex reserves reach $3.2bn
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, July 31: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of
the cabinet here on Tuesday was informed by the governor of the
State Bank that the country's foreign exchange reserves had reached
$3.2 billion.
The ECC, which was presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz,
was told that the $3.2 billion reserves included $1.7 billion that
was being maintained by the State Bank and $1.5 billion with other
commercial banks. The committee reviewed the sugar situation and
noted that sugar supplies, both from local production and imports,
were in adequate stock. It noted that there was stability in sugar
prices.
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20010730
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Clouds hover around equities market
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Muhammad Aslam
The stocks failed to establish any set price pattern during the
week. The KSE 100-share index suffered a fresh fall of about 18
points at 1,242.84 points as compared to 1,260.59 points a week
earlier. The breach of the jealously-guarded support index level of
1,250.00 was taken as a bad omen for the market, which could lead
to further price erosions, most floor brokers feared.
The market capitalization also suffered a fresh setback of Rs4
billion at Rs314 billion as compared to Rs318 billion last week as
all the heavily-capitalized shares, notably the Hub-Power, the PSO
and the PTCL remained under pressure.
"The persistent foreign selling, notably in the PTCL appears to be
the market's chief worry and its inability to absorb it even at the
falling prices. Its price has already fallen to two-year low at
Rs15.10 and may fall further", the stock analyst at the W.E
Financials said.
The PSO share, did trigger panic selling, pushing it down to as low
as Rs121.65 in early trading but the late support allowed it to
finish partially recovered. The KSE 100-share index early was off
but the mid-week saw it rising sharply on the strength of the
leading base shares, notably the Hubco followed by the reports that
its lenders would meet soon to approve 17 per cent interim dividend
declared by its management.
It touched the week's highest at 1,276 points but ended at the
lowest for the week at 1,243 points, as all the leading base shares
suffered fall under the lead of the PTCL.
The stray flutters of the strong speculative activity were
witnessed on the forward counters, notably in the PSO and the Hub-
Power but there were no signs of identical two-way trading in their
shares in the ready section.
An interim cash dividend at the rate of 25 per cent by the Clariant
Pakistan, for instance, was well-received in the market as was
reflected by a smart increase in its share value.
Some of the leading shares managed to put on good gains under the
lead of Fazal Textiles, which rose by Rs7.90. Other good gainers
were led by the Lever Brothers, the Sitara Chemical, the Ferozsons
Lab, the Cyanamid Pakistan, the Sindh Abadgar's Sugar and Ishaq
Textiles with few others posting some good gains.
Losers were led by the Security Papers, the Glaxo-Wellcome, the
Amin Spinning, the Adamjee Insurance, the MCB, the Alico, the Bolan
Casting and the Aventis Pharma and several others but most of the
price changes were two-way.
The trading volume fell to 274m shares from the previous half a
billion shares, bulk of which was shared by the Hub-Power, the
PTCL, the PSO, followed by the ICI Pakistan, the Engro Chemical,
Fauji Fertiliser, the CB, Adamjee Insurance, the FFC-Jordan
Fertiliser, Dewan Salman and some others.
Back to the top
EDITORIALS & FEATURES
20010729
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Two wrongs do not make one right
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Ardeshir Cowasjee
DELHI: Neither side can give the other what it wants. Very wisely,
the inscrutable prime minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and
General Pervez Musharraf have decided not to slam shut the door but
to meet again. To dissipate rancour of fifty-four years standing
requires far more time than fifty-four hours.
Pakistan should make no mistake in its perception. The other side
is light years ahead of it in too many ways. For instance, take the
lush green Delhi which, once ranked amongst the topmost highly
polluted cities of the world, is now smoke and smog and diesel-
petrol fume free, thanks to the Supreme Court of India, and the
Delhi administration which has implemented its order.
Karachi: Back to its on-going strife, sectarian and other murders,
pollution, traffic snarls, fading diminishing greenery, and the
headlines of this newspaper's Metropolitan section which told us
last week - 'Epidemics feared as flies invade Karachi', 'Centers
refuse dialysis for want of funds' (the government has still to
denationalize the Kidney Center erroneously nationalized), and
'Regularization to destroy town planning'.
The governor of Sindh and his cabinet have once more arisen and
approved the passing of a resolution that will destroy whatever has
been left intact in the overtly highly illegally overbuilt city of
Karachi. Many people will recall how the building mafia in 1999 had
approached Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and misled him into
believing that industries and employment would miraculously be
revived were all the illegal buildings in Karachi to be
regularized. The then governor, Air Marshal Azim Daudpota, was also
highly elated with the mafia's fairy story. However, when the true
position was explained to both Aziz and Daudpota they realized they
had been duped.
In came Mohammadmian Soomro as Sindh governor, and he and his
minister of housing and town planning, Dewan Yousuf, were once
again revved up by the builders into believing that the
regularization of all illegally constructed buildings was the
answer to all Karachi's ills, and yet another committee was formed
to examine the matter.
The Tasneem Siddiqui committee was asked to submit its report to
the governor, which it has done. On July 24 of this year, Governor
Soomro and his cabinet approved the passing of the Sindh Building
Control (Amendment 2001) Ordinance sanctifying a building policy
for the beleaguered city of Karachi that is supposed to jump-start
the urban economy and provide a boost to the 'Program for the
Economic Revival of Karachi' (PERK). Every citizen can now become a
legal "illegal and prosperous builder."
The proposed liberal ordinance allows one, within the next 12
months, to build a multi-storeyed commercial building on even a
public park if one does not: use the structure for any
environmentally degrading or hazardous activity; cater to the
services sector to transport (whatever that means); convert parking
spaces to other use; violate a road-widening cut-line reservation
or property line; or, erect a seismically unstable structure.
One can, however: cover the entire compulsory open spaces all
around (meant for the privacy of neighbors, sunlight and
ventilation, access for emergency fire/ambulance vehicles, running
of utility services, etc); construct unlimited excess built-up
area, with unlimited additional floors; convert an amenity park
plot into a commercial plot; not provide visibility chamfers on
corner plots; not provide NOCs from the KESC, KWSB, and SSGCL;
contravene the Civil Aviation Authority's 'flying gap' limitation;
construct higher than the podium of Mohammad Ali Jinnah's mazar
(within the prohibited 3/4th mile radius); and commit many other
violations of the building regulations.
All one has to do is pay Rs. 300 per square foot (sft) of violation
space as penalty charges. One can then sell the 'regularized'
commercial space at a profit of over Rs. 1,300 per sft for offices
and Rs. 19,000 per sft for shops.
The Tasneem Siddiqui committee report specifically states that
land-use violations would not be regularized, but the cabinet-
approved ordinance allows the condonation of exactly such
violations. It seems of no consequence that this conversion cannot
be done under the SBCO ordinance as it contravenes multiple town-
planning laws and plot-lease covenants.
On October 5, 1999, the KDA governing body wisely cautioned the
public through a KBCA notice published in newspapers of record that
numerous unauthorized structures had been constructed in Karachi
under the cover of court orders, and that the law did not permit
the 'regularization' of such blatantly illegal and dangerous
buildings. The KDA/KBCA went on to correctly clarify that
"condonation is only possible when the deviations from the approved
plans are still within the building regulations."
In an about-face, on May 3,2001, without debate the KDA governing
body pushed through the Tasneem Siddiqui committee report
recommending virtually blanket 'regularization'. Two public
representatives, ex-Senator Syed Mazher Ali (himself a builder and
founder-member of ABAD) and I, both present at the meeting,
dissented strongly. I insisted that my detailed objection be
attached to the report, along with my following note of caution:
"These documents, without any specific recommendation of the GB,
should confuse the governor, as they should any other reasonable
man. It is not fair to throw the ball in the governor's court and
make him take a wrong decision for which he will be held
responsible, and for which he would have to face an inquiry which
any subsequent government will hold. He would have to suffer the
consequences, presuming that he would then be in Pakistan, not
having absconded."
This 'regularization' policy has the whole-hearted support of
businessman/builder-turned-vice-chairman of the Economic
Development Council of Sindh, Shahid Firoz, who is committed to
making Karachi "the most livable city in South Asia by 2007."
Shahid spouts a smooth line of patter while explaining the details
of his grandiose plans. He has been motivated by the builders of
'Fortune Towers', 'Saima Trade Towers', 'Business Avenue', 'Clifton
Shopping Galleria', and numerous other illegal structures on Sharea
Faisal who explain how advantageous it would be to the government
of Sindh if illegalities were to be condoned -- at a price.
All, however, is not lost. The High Court of Sindh is still acting
as the guardian of the 'right to life' of the citizens and is
delivering on issues brought to its judicial notice. Two cases in
the High Court involving the built environment of Karachi have
fared well over the past fortnight.
In the 'Karachi Playhouse' petition challenging a mammoth
commercial structure being constructed on an amenity/public
building plot reserved for a theatre at Teen Talwar, the division
bench recognized the prima facie validity of the citizens' petition
that Clifton Cantonment Board's building regulations could not
override the original zoning/town planning of the KDA Kahkashan
Scheme.
In the 'Saima Trade Towers' case, dealing with a grossly over-built
structure on I. I. Chundrigar Road, the division bench placed a
liberal interpretation on the concept of locus standi while
recognizing that "certain individuals or groups have over the years
proved their bona fides for championing the cause connected with
certain aspects of the city." The court rejected the stand of the
builders/interveners that such public interest cases could be heard
only in the Supreme Court, and admitted the petition.
The lethal ordinance is still in the making with the law department
of the Sindh government. Governor Soomro should take a second look.
How much excess baggage can President General Pervez Musharraf
carry?
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20010803
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Real democracy: the miracle at hand
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By Ayaz Amir
With the election of corps headquarter-approved nazims and naib
nazims, the spearmen of the real democracy that General Musharraf
had promised to gift the nation are finally in place. They make a
princely collection.
Monitored closely by the corps commanders who constitute Gen
Musharraf's ruling college of bishops, this electoral exercise has
been carried out with all the single mindedness of a military
operation. Its objective has been a disarmingly simple one: the
creation of a military-friendly civilian constituency (forget the
contradiction in this phrase) for the latest in Pakistan's long
line of distinguished saviours.
Given the importance of this objective, minor irritants such as
those the tender-hearted would call democratic niceties have not
been allowed to stand in the way of its fulfillment. It is a mark
of this approach that the list of approved candidates was compiled
in close consultation with the Like-minded or Sarkari League headed
by Mian Azhar, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervez Ellahi-
-the three luminaries who should now be taken as the leading
apostles of the real democracy to whose tune the country is all set
to march.
Where the corps commanders had no favourites, the wishes of Mian
Azhar and the Chaudhries prevailed. But if, as we have seen most
spectacularly in Rawalpindi, there was a military favourite,
nothing could block his anointing as the certified candidate of the
Official League.
It is instructive to dwell a bit on the 'Pindi contender. Before
these free and fair elections who could have considered Tariq
Kayani as the front runner? The Chaudhries first chose Raja
Basharat as their man only to be told (face-to-face) by Commander
10 Corps, Lt-Gen Jamshed Gulzar Kayani, that the national interest
was better served by Tariq Kayani (the similarity of surnames being
entirely coincidental) as Rawalpindi nazim. Not a man to miss the
writing on the wall, Basharat withdrew his candidature, contenting
himself with the consolation prize of tehsil nazimship for his
younger brother.
Ten Corps is the formation whose responsibilities include the
guarding of the Siachen passes. Hawk-eyed vigilance in the north
and a keen civic sense in Rawalpindi: this is what is called
versatility. No one can accuse the modern Pakistan army of not
being protean in its capabilities.
Similarly illuminating has been the performance of the 6th Armoured
Division based in Kharian whose commander, Maj-Gen Ghumman, has
been closely watching the election scene in Chakwal. By now he
should be as familiar with the political personalities of his
diocese as with his troops and columns of armour. It is this facet
of military training, or call it expertise, which gives the
Pakistan army an edge over its Indian rival. The Indian army is
narrow in outlook, concerned only with professional militarism
whereas the Pakistan army with its multifarious responsibilities
has a range truly Napoleonic in its reach and vision.
A clarification, though, is in order. In north Punjab, the heart of
the martial belt and the region regarding whose nazim elections I
can say something, the corps commanders have intervened only at the
macro or strategic level (military officers being fond of these
terms), ensuring that the mantle of official candidate fell on the
right shoulders. They have been clear on one point: no PPP or Nawaz
Sharif supporter should enter the hallowed circle of nazims, the
future constituency of Gen Musharraf. Otherwise, to the best of my
knowledge, there has been no micro-intervention in the form of
majors or colonels pressuring the administration to get 'positive'
results. To this extent this election has been free and fair.
But the point to examine is the outcome of this exercise in
military planning. No better collection of yes-men could have been
gathered for giving a civilian face to the present order or
advancing Gen Naqvi's devolution plan--about which we have been
told that it is the answer to all the country's problems. Are these
men of straw, in awe of their respective corps commanders, the
messiahs whose approach the nation has been awaiting?
Indeed, what Gen Musharraf and his knights are asking of the nation
is nothing less than a total suspension of disbelief. We are being
asked to forget the non-performance of the last year and a half and
to believe that a revolution, a quick-fix for all our ills, is at
hand. In other words, through Gen Naqvi's attempt at administrative
restructuring, we have at last discovered the Holy Grail.
Credulity needs stretching to believe any of this. Consider the
talent on offer. Can the army-vetted nazims who will be carrying
the burden of Gen Naqvi's district engineering be the harbingers of
a social upheaval? We might with equal assurance believe that
gilded lilies will sprout from municipal cesspools.
The newly-elected nazims do not come from a crop of fools. Knowing
the keen interest taken in their welfare by the corps commanders,
they are all too aware of their real status: pawns in a larger
power game. From creatures thus elected (or selected) is it at all
fair to expect justice, impartiality and similar administrative
wonders? Products of an exercise whose central principle has been
the lack of even-handedness, are they now expected to discharge
their district duties in an even-handed manner?
The Like-minded Leaguers are chips off the Nawaz Sharif block,
people who took part in the loot, plunder and maladministration of
the decade that Gen Musharraf likes to associate with 'sham'
democracy. The same people, having been vetted by their respective
corps commanders, are now being expected to play the role of
knights in civic armour. We are all entitled to our day-dreams. But
this one would leave even confirmed Freudians a bit out of breath.
Instead of administrative rigour, far more accurate to think of
administrative vandalization. The western embassies and donor
agencies pushing the devolution plan and saying it is the best
thing to come Pakistan's way will have a lot to answer for. Wait
till the nazims get into their stride. The mismanagement of the
last year and a half will pale by comparison.
Hitherto, politicians used the bureaucracy to win power and
influence. Now it is the politico, in the form of the nazim, who
will sit atop the bureaucratic pyramid. Who is to prevent him from
misusing this power? Gen Musharraf and his mentor in this sphere,
Gen Naqvi, take this change to be the key to the golden kingdom.
Concentration of authority in any field has been the ruin of
Pakistan. Is it likely to be any different in this instance?
Of course devolution of power is a good thing. Sure, the old
administrative system needed a knocking. Equally certain, the old
deputy commissioner and commissioner's offices had outlived their
utility. But let us not forget the relationship between end and
means. Are the likes of Mian Azhar and Chaudhry Shujaat going to
lead the nation to the promised land? Are the nazims of what must
now be called the Official League going to be the heralds of a new
dispensation?
Let us not fool ourselves. At issue is not any question of
administrative regeneration as the think-tankers of the regime
would have the nation believe. At stake is the creation of a
civilian base for the military government. Once the nazims assume
control of their district baronies, attention will turn to the next
stage of real democracy: the election of military-friendly
assemblies, at the centre and in the provinces.
Nor, if we care to remember the Ayub model with its docile and
quiescent legislatures, is this such an unlikely outcome. The
valuable election experience gathered by the corps commanders makes
it entirely possible for the Ayubian model to be replicated in the
coming round as well.
But why quarrel with the inevitable? I for my part have pre-empted
even the smartest gunslingers by being the first to offer my
congratulations to Gen Musharraf for the successful outcome of the
nazim elections.
On Wednesday morning as he met a group of us journalists who had
carried the Pakistan flag at Agra I told him, full two days before
the event, to rest easy because the right kind of nazims, their
hearts in the right place, were being elected. To his credit, he
did not take my remark amiss, his embarrassment lasting for no more
than a passing second.
SPORTS
20010804
-------------------------------------------------------------------
PCB not to allow ICC sleuths to grill Inzamam
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Samiul Hasan
KARACHI, Aug 3: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said it would not
make Inzamam-ul-Haq available to International Cricket Council's
Anti-Corruption Unit for interview.
"There is no question of allowing Inzamam to appear before Sir Paul
Condon's unit when Pakistan has a packed and demanding
international season," a top PCB official said. The ICC sleuths
want to investigate Inzamam in connection with their probe against
betting and match-fixing. The Pakistan vice- captain, fined
Rs300,000 by Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum for hiding facts, has
again been targeted by Condon's men and the English media.
The latest allegations against Inzamam revolved around his second
ball duck against Australia in the tri-nation one-day tournament in
England. Inzamam danced down the track against Shane Warne only to
be stumped by Adam Gilchrist.
According to highly placed sources, Condon has reported the latest
allegations against Inzamam to the PCB and has urged Pakistan
authorities to allow his unit to question him. PCB chairman Lt Gen
Tauqir Zia neither confirmed nor denied the report but admitted
that three Pakistan players were grilled by ICC sleuths during
Pakistan's tour to England that concluded in June.
"Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis were questioned by ICC
investigators who were also supposed to examine Inzamam but he was
not available. After the England tour, Inzamam proceeded to United
States and has just returned," Zia said. But the PCB boss said he
would not like his senior most batsman to pass through mental
trauma of facing investigators at a time when Pakistan has to play
12 Tests and around 20 one-day internationals.
Inzamam, talking to Dawn from Multan, said he would wait for
instructions from PCB before proceeding to England to face ICC
investigators. But he minced no words to express his frustration.
"Every player is sick of these allegations and I am no different. I
am fed-up. I just don't understand why every dismissal or team's
defeat is linked to ungamely tactics.
"Naturally, these allegations affect the concentration of the
player because every time he walks out in the centre, he has it in
the back of his mind that if he fails to deliver, he will be under
suspicion," Inzamam said.
The PCB, which has come down hard when it comes to defending
players for the right reasons, further said it would not get the
allegations investigated by its inquiry committee. "There is no
need to toe the line of media allegations and start inquiries," Zia
said. However, the general said Justice Bhandari's inquiry into
World Cup allegations which had to be submitted to the ICC has been
delayed.
"Although the President has appointed Justice Bhandari, the Law
Secretary has yet to release a notification," he said, adding that
the inquiry was unlikely to be completed before the start of fresh
season. "I would have liked to close this chapter before the season
starts. But now, either Justice Bhandari's inquiry will be held
between a six-week gap after the Sharjah tournament and tour to
Bangladesh or after the conclusion of the season in March-April.
"I will be meeting Justice Bhandari on Saturday and will seek his
plan of action. But frankly speaking, I would not like to bother my
players during the season," Zia said. Justice Bhandari will be
probing the allegations levelled by former South African board's
managing director Ali Bacher that Pakistan deliberately threw World
Cup matches to Bangladesh and India. Bhandari will also be probing
Bacher's claims that retired Test umpire Javed Akhtar had been on
the pay-roll of the bookies.
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20010804
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Waqar retained captain for home series against Kiwis
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Sports Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 3: Paceman Waqar Younis was retained as Pakistan
captain for a three-Test and as many one-day internationals home
series against New Zealand starting Sept 19.
The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Lt Gen Tauqir Zia
told Dawn from Lahore that although his establishment would like
Waqar to continue till the 2003 World Cup, decision on his future
would be made after analyzing his form and fitness. "According to
our policy, Waqar has initially been appointed captain till the
home series against New Zealand. Inzamam-ul-Haq will continue to
serve as vice-captain," Zia said.
Waqar replaced an out of favour Moin Khan for the Sharjah and
England tours in March where Pakistan put up a mixed performance.
Nevertheless, Waqar's own performance remained outstanding when he
finished with 17 wickets in the England tri-nation one-day
competition.
After the New Zealand tour, Pakistan are to play in a three- nation
tournament in Sharjah and then proceed to Bangladesh for a two-Test
series before hosting West Indies for a three-Test series. "Waqar
will be conveyed about his additional responsibilities for the
second half of the international season in advance," Zia said,
hinting that the pacer would be entrusted with captaincy for the
entire season during the New Zealand series.
The appointment means Waqar will also captain Pakistan in the
icebreaking Test against India at Lahore in the Asian Test
Championship between Sept 12 and 16. Waqar made his Test debut
against India at Karachi in 1989-90. The PCB chief said he was
pleased with Waqar's individual performance and the way the team
had responded under his leadership. "But we don't like to jump the
guns. Although I am confident that Waqar will maintain the highest
standards of fitness, we have to stick to our policy of appointing
captains on series-by-series basis," he said.
Zia admitted that Pakistan lacked Waqar's replacement as captain.
"Inzamam is the vice-captain but that doesn't necessarily mean that
he is the future captain. We have Saeed Anwar and Rashid Latif but
I don't want to hand over the charge to Rashid because he has just
forced his way into the team. "He (Rashid) still requires time to
adjust to the rigors of international cricket. It would be
unjustified if he is handed over this demanding job. "Besides this
senior trio, the others are inexperienced."
The PCB supremo said the decision to retain Waqar was not difficult
in the backdrop of his and team's performance in Sharjah and
England. The general said the PCB would award contracts to a select
group of players before the international season begins with the
Test against Bangladesh at Multan from Aug 29.
He said half a dozen players would be awarded contracts but didn't
promise that the players would be from the 27 named to attend the
training camp starting in Karachi from Aug 6. "Before we award
contracts, two things have to be gauged. Firstly, do we have enough
funds in our coffers and secondly, will our players be at par with
other teams.
"The basic objective of awarding contracts is to avoid the
embarrassment of players entering into individual deals with PCB
sponsors competitors," he said, with reference to players agreement
with Coca Cola which put the PCB in an awkward situation as Pepsi
is the team's sponsor.
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20010803
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BCCI approach govt for approval: Lahore Test
-------------------------------------------------------------------
MUMBAI, Aug 2: Indian cricket authorities have asked their
government for permission to play a Test match in Pakistan in
September, their first on Pakistani soil in 12 years, a leading
cricket official said.
India are scheduled to play Pakistan in an Asian Test Championship
game in Lahore next month, but it is uncertain whether the
government will allow the trip.
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20010731
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Cricket ties not feasible at present: India
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Monitoring Desk
NEW DELHI, July 30: Government reiterated its stand that bilateral
cricket series with Pakistan could not be allowed under 'present
circumstances' but the Indian team was free to play against that
country in multilateral tournaments.
"After taking all the relevant factors into consideration, the
government has come to the view that circumstances prevailing at
present are not fully conducive for Indian cricket team to play
bilateral matches against Pakistan," Minister of State of Sports
Pon Radhakirishnan said on Monday in a written reply in Lok Sabha.
"There is, however, generally no objection to playing against
Pakistan in multilateral matches at regular venues," he said. To a
related question, the minister said there was no proposal for
organizing hockey matches between the two countries. "The
Government will take a decision on receipt of the proposal in this
regard," he said.
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20010730
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Khayal and Zubair post second win
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Sports Correspondent
LAHORE, July 29: Khayal Mohammad and Zubair Ali registered their
second consecutive victories on the second day of three-day trials
which are being held at the Punjab Squash Complex to pick up two
players from Punjab for the national trials.
The national trials will be held at Karachi in September to select
two Pakistan teams for the World Team Championship and SAF Games
which are being staged at Sydney and Islamabad, respectively, in
October this year.
Khayal Mohammad who toppled Zulifqar Ali in the opener easily,
faced a stiff challenge from Asghar Khan as he went the full
distance to earn his second win. Khayal Mohammad fought for 105
minutes to win with a score of 12-15, 15-10, 15-7, 16-17, 15-12.
Zubair Ali outplayed Yawar Islam 15-3, 15-5, 15-14 to complete his
second win. Yawar Islam had also lost his first match to Ibraheem
Gull.
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20010802
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Wasim to coach youngsters
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Sports Reporter
LAHORE, Aug 1: Six cricket clinics to train youngsters in two age-
groups are being established at six major cities of the country.
The first group of boys to be chosen for the clinics will be
between the ages of 10-13 and the second between the ages of 14-16.
For setting-up the clinics, a contract was signed between former
Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, who will be heading the group of Test
stars engaged as coaches, and a multi-national soft-drink company.
Wasim will be assisted by Test cricketers Abdul Razzaq, Shahid
Afridi, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Sami and Imran Farhat.
The open trials to select the boys will be held at the Lahore City
Cricket Association (LCCA) ground, Sunday (Aug 5) at 9.00am.
Besides Lahore, the same exercise will also be held at Karachi,
Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan and Peshawar. Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB), as in the past, will again be co-operating with the sponsor
company in making the clinics a success. The PCB coaches will be
scouting talent while the clinics will be in progress.
After selecting boys, clinics will be run for six weeks. At the end
of training on Sept 18, talented cricketers will be short-listed at
each of the six cities to form 16-member teams. Matches will be
organized among the teams of each center. Speaking on the occasion,
Wasim Akram said that Pakistan was blessed with abundant talent
that the boys participating in these clinics would have the
advantage of learning from our experience.
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20010802
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PCB's double-standards over fitness of players
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By Imran Naeem Ahmed
ISLAMABAD, Aug 1: Pakistan cricket chief, Lt. Gen Tauqir Zia said
that both Wasim Akram and wicketkeeper Moin Khan would have to
prove their form and fitness if they cherish any hopes of returning
to the national team.
Both Akram and Moin were dropped Tuesday from a list of 27
probables announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for a
training camp ahead of this month's Bangladesh match of the Asian
Test Championship.
"They have to prove themselves in domestic cricket if they want to
make a comeback," said the general who did not appear too happy
with the "attitude" of some of the senior players. The selectors,
headed by Wasim Bari chose wicketkeepers Rashid Latif and Atiq-uz-
Zaman leaving out Moin to rue his fate.
Tauqir dismissed the impression that Shoaib Akhtar, who is among
the probables, was injured. "He has no fitness problems." Fingers
are being raised again over the inclusion of this injury-prone
bowler who has spent more time in recent months watching cricket
from the dressing room at the cost of PCB's money than actually
playing it.
His injuries have cost the board millions but the fatherly PCB
officials continue to pamper him hoping that one day he might pay
them back in form of taking wickets, the prime duty of a strike
bowler.
While Tauqir did not say much about Shoaib, he disclosed that
Mohammad Sami and Shabbir Ahmad who are still recovering from
injuries have been included in the list of probables so that they
could practice with the other players which would help them regain
fitness.
Asked if the PCB had now given up its search for a foreign coach
following the refusal this week of South African Kepler Wessels,
Tauqir said: "We have not given up but will continue our hunt. He
did not say who the board was presently pursuing. Australian Darryl
Foster, South-Africa born Richard Pybus and Englishman C.
Medlycott, have all expressed their inability to take up long-term
coaching assignments in Pakistan.
Tauqir said that Sikander Bakht had been appointed coach because he
was based in Karachi, the venue for the training camp beginni