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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 8 December 2001 Issue : 07/49
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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
entire header is included at the beginning of each extract.
We encourage comments & suggestions. We can be reached at:
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mail DAWN Group of Newspapers
Haroon House, Karachi 74200, Pakistan
Please send all Editorials and Letters to the Editor at
letters@dawn.com
(c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 2001
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CONTENTS
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NATIONAL NEWS
+ Italians here for N-safety talks
+ Scientists' pleas referred to CJ for larger bench
+ Washington may supply F-16 spares
+ Islamabad, Tehran to increase mly cooperation
+ Screening job at airports not given to FBI, says Anwar
+ Doubts about FIA's new role
+ Taliban can play role in future govt, says Karzai
+ Coalition rules out amnesty for Omar
+ Amnesty for all declared: No revenge, vows new chief
+ Afghans sign power-sharing agreement
+ CIA seeks help to track down Osama: Talks held with Musharraf
+ Islamabad cooperating with US: envoy
+ No Pakistani jets flew into Afghanistan, says US
+ Rumsfeld stresses mly ties with Pakistan
+ Coalition under fire
+ Fatal errors that led to Qala-i-Jangi massacre
+ Pakistan seeks access to detained suspects
+ Convicts might be barred from contesting poll
+ Preparation of electoral rolls begins: Election 2002
+ Shahbaz was banished 'against his consent'
+ Ejaz seeks sedition case against Benazir
+ PML-N concerned over Benazir's statement
+ Court orders release of Farooquis
+ Govt sets condition to end Fazl's detention
+ Foreign newsman expelled
+ Musharraf's wife not buying house in US
+ 22 killed in Kashmir clashes
+ Former MNA convicted
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BUSINESS & ECONOMY
+ IMF okays $1.3bn facility
+ IMF allows Pakistan to raise deficit target
+ IMF asked for $1.3 billion loan
+ Germany to give DM300m aid
+ US targets $5 trillion oil, gas reserves
+ Investment down in first quarter: SBP
+ Former chief of BEL jailed for seven years
+ EC's 50m euros for DPs camps
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EDITORIALS & FEATURES
+ Fire ! Fire ! Ardeshir Cowasjee
+ Now for a Loya Jirga for Pakistan Ayaz Amir
+ A return to relevance Irfan Husain
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SPORTS
+ Waqar and Mudassar get extensions
+ Shoaib cleared again, but not yet by ICC
+ Wasim denies he was under pressure
+ Pakistani appointed ACC offical
+ Bi-annual league system to be introduced
+ New rules to be tried after World Cup
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NATIONAL NEWS
20011206
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Italians here for N-safety talks
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Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Dec 5: Two physicists of the Italian Arms Control
Centre, Landau Network Centro Volta, have arrived on a five-day
visit, ending Dec 7, to prepare a report on the status of nuclear
security in Pakistan.
Sources said the visiting scientists, Prof Paolo Cotta-Ramusino and
Prof Maurizio Martellini, would be looking at certain key questions
relating to safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, the percentage of
nuclear weapons that are assembled, effects of the Sept 11 attacks
and the Afghan crisis on the nuclear posture of Pakistan,
Pakistan's reaction to possible Indian attack and the public
perception of the nuclear weapons. The report would later be
submitted to the Italian government, they said.
The scientists, visiting under the auspices of the foreign ministry
of Italy, have held deliberations with the foreign ministry
officials and think-tanks to assess the safety of nuclear weapons
and the risks of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to
terrorists and rogue states, the sources said, adding that a
similar nuclear risk assessment visit to India is not on the
itinerary of the scientists for the time being.
In a synopsis, co-authored by the two scientists for their visit,
it is said the situation of Pakistan is crucial, specially
considering the terrorist attacks on the United States, the
dimension of the world-wide spread of the relevant terrorist
network and the ensuing Afghan conflict. "The situation has raised
serious concerns about the possibility that terrorist groups have
acquired weapons of mass destruction or may be striving to acquire
such weapons."
The scientists said Pakistan is an important country from the point
of view of global stability, its long border with Afghanistan, a
sizeable section of the public that supports radical Islamic
parties and scientists and technicians who are capable of building
nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, in addition
to the fact that the country has fissile materials and nuclear
weapons.
Some of the questions being asked by the two scientists have raised
concern in the security establishment.
The sources said that in terms of the nuclear proliferation risks
the scientists are exploring the possible links of Pakistani
nuclear scientists with the Afghan Taliban and the Arab Afghans in
the past and present scenarios, effectiveness of control over
Pakistani fissile material storage and production facilities,
possible transfer of illicit nuclear material through Pakistan and
Afghanistan and the effectiveness of control of Pakistan's
radioactive sources and their potential illicit traffic.
They said that in terms of the chemical and biological weapons the
scientists have the questions about effective control of materials
of concern for chemical and biological weapons transfer and
diffusion, Pakistan Afghan border in recent history and transfer of
illicit biological, chemical agents and dual use equipment through
the border.
Some of the questions being asked relate to transfer of nuclear
scientists and experts to Afghanistan or any other country and the
impact of recent events on the scientific community, particularly
on the community of scientists involved in military and defense
activities.
The sources said the scientists would also report the impact of
Pakistan's nuclear program on the role of Islamic countries in the
international arena and whether Pakistan's nuclearization has
contributed to any change in the role of the Islamic countries.
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20011205
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Scientists' pleas referred to CJ for larger bench
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By Shujaat Ali Khan
LAHORE, Dec 4: The scientists' habeas corpus petitions were
referred to the chief justice for consideration by a larger bench
of the Lahore High Court.
Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, who made the reference, dismissed a
plea by Advocate A.K. Dogar, petitioner-lawyer M.D. Tahir's new
counsel, to order the production of the detenus in the meanwhile.
He said Mr Tahir, who filed a habeas corpus petition on Nov 5 for
the release of all the detenus, had already moved an application in
this behalf.
Earlier, speaking on behalf of detained scientist Sultan
Bashiruddin Mahmood's mother, Advocate Ismail Qureshi submitted
that to enjoy the protection of law and to be treated in accordance
with law is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may
be, and of every other person for the timebeing in Pakistan. No
action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or
property of any person can be taken except in accordance with law.
Politicians and scientists are equally protected.
Justice Ramday observed that all the past cases cited by him,
including the Zahur Ilahi and Shorish Kashmiri cases, were decided
by larger benches. A larger bench must also hear the present
petitions. He referred the petitions to Chief Justice Falak Sher
for constitution of a larger bench to consider it.
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20011202
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Washington may supply F-16 spares
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By Tahir Mirza
WASHINGTON, Dec 1: The United States intends to provide Pakistan
with military spare parts sought by Islamabad following the lifting
of US sanctions on military and economic aid. This was stated by a
senior Pentagon official who was asked for a comment on a Dawn
report last week that Pakistan had put in a request for spare parts
immediately after the sanctions waiver and was waiting for a
response from Washington.
The official said most of the spare parts related to Pakistan's F-
16 aircraft. The spare parts were ordered before the recent events
but were held up because of the embargo on US military sales to
Pakistan.
All US sanctions imposed before the nuclear tests in the
subcontinent and those slapped subsequent to the tests, as well as
the so-called democracy sanctions, have been waived by the Bush
administration.
The waiver was being considered even before the Sept 11 events, but
the process was speeded up after the attacks and Pakistan's
decision to back the US anti-terrorism drive.
Pakistan sources say the embassy's defence officials have been
looking at the required spare parts that are located at various
points in the US to see whether their shelf life remains valid.
They said that apart from technical reasons there was no political
impediment to the acquisition of spare parts.
During his meeting with President George Bush in New York in
October, Gen Pervez Musharraf had also raised the question of
getting additional F-16s, but the proposal was turned down.
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20011202
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Islamabad, Tehran to increase mly cooperation
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Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Dec 1: Pakistan and Iran have decided to enhance
military cooperation for manufacturing of small arms, ammunitions,
artillery tank ammunition, propellant and various kinds of
explosives.
Gen Qayyum said that increased military cooperation would not lead
to any joint venture in the nuclear field. "I must clarify here
that our military cooperation will be limited to the manufacturing
of tactical weapons and not nuclear weapons," he added.
He said that Iranian deputy defence minister had visited POF Wah
and was briefed about the whole range of products being
manufactured according to international standards and western
specifications.
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20011203
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Screening job at airports not given to FBI, says Anwar
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Staff Reporter
RAWALPINDI, Dec 2: The federal information secretary, Anwar
Mehmood, dispelled the impression that the American Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) had been provided facilities at airports to
screen suspected passengers. "Such misreporting is regrettable", he
said while talking to journalists.
The secretary said, under an agreement last year, the US was to
train Pakistani immigration staff on the use of some new equipment
being installed at the airports. Under that agreement now, a US
team has arrived to install 'passport-readable machinery' at the
airports and train the immigration officials in this regard.
He said no airport screening contract had been given to the FBI as
reported in some newspapers.
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20011206
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Doubts about FIA's new role
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Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Dec 5: Reports of an anti-terrorism role for the Federal
Investigation Agency have generated a debate within the Agency on
whether it was prepared for the assignment.
Objectors to the new role maintain that like a secretariat most of
FIA's time and effort were taken by record keeping. It did not
have, as a result, the resources and training required
investigating, pre-empting and dealing with terrorist activities.
"A cursory look at the investigative procedure and backlog of cases
at the Agency reveal its basic weakness," an official says.
It takes years, he says, to file a first information report with
the Agency. Once an investigating officer completes an inquiry, it
goes to the deputy director concerned, who, in turn, marks it to
the legal branch. If the file returns with some objections, the
investigator is asked to remove them. Once the lacunas are removed,
the case goes to the regional director, who once again seeks legal
opinion and removal of objections, if any. The file then moves to
the central headquarter where the procedure is repeated.
Once FIA is finished with a report, it is referred to the Ministry
of Interior, which again seeking a legal opinion and removal of
objections before deciding whether the person concerned should be
prosecuted. If it is decided to prosecute the offender, the file is
sent back to FIA's central headquarters, to the regional director,
to the deputy director concerned and ultimately to the
investigation officer.
This generates mammoth volumes of correspondence that keep people
busy at the Agency. Should the court acquit the accused and the FIA
decide to appeal against the judgement, the file travels in a
similar manner to the Ministry of Law and back.
The Agency has backlog of cases including some registered in the
early '90s, says another insider. Given its style of a plodding
turtle, assigning it a role requiring the speed of a rabbit, would
hardly be a welcome development.
A severe manpower shortage at the Agency is an additional drag.
"The Lahore office has a strength of 117, including the director
and the office peon. Considering that all government offices work
at about 80 per cent the total strength, with the remaining 20 per
cent on leave, there are around 100 people at the FIA at a given
time. Outs of these, around 25 are currently working with the
National Accountability Bureau. This leaves only 75 people,
including 55 to 60 investigation officers looking after nine
circles and around five wings of the Agency," says an officer. How
can the government expect the Agency to take an additional load
without additional manpower, he asks.
About the proposed role of the US Federal Bureau of Investigations
in the training, another official says it is limited to what the US
calls the PISES program. It is a three years old program that was
shelved for political reasons. Under the program, the FBI and
Pakistan's Intelligence Bureau were to join hands to track down
international terrorists. The FIA does not have the required
computer facilities at the airports. Its exit control list
comprises people wanted for political reasons or defaults on
payment of bank loans. The US, however, wishes it to nab those
wanted by the Interpol. For this reason, the US has launched the
PISES program and is paying for the necessary equipment to
establish the 'enabled' immigration counters. The IB-FBI joint
venture has nothing to do with the FIA.
The recent visit to various airports by an FBI team was designed to
finalize lay out arrangements for the proposed counters.
Inducting women officers for checking is also an idea discussed
first during the former PML government, an FIA officer said.
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20011207
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Taliban can play role in future govt, says Karzai
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Staff Correspondent
LONDON, Dec 6: The head of the newly-appointed Afghan interim
administration, Hamid Karzai, has said former Taliban figures could
play a role in a future government if the Afghan people wanted them
but that "foreign terrorists" must be expelled.
In an interview with the BBC, Mr Karzai said: "Foreign terrorists
that have made Afghanistan their base and have brought unbelievable
sufferings to our people and my country must be brought to
justice." He said his country needed economic opportunities and
democratic elections in order to move forward.
Mr Karzai told the BBC that the Afghan people must make decisions
about the type of the government the country would have and who it
would include. He also said that if local forces could not provide
"security at this critical time of transition, then the presence of
a UN force would be a good thing". He was talking by satellite
phone from Kandahar.
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20011207
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Coalition rules out amnesty for Omar
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Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Dec 6: The very first decision taken by the head of the
newly-appointed Afghan interim government, Hamid Karzai, to grant
general amnesty has been vetoed by the US-led coalition.
Coalition spokesman Kenton Keith at the daily briefing ruled out
the possibility of granting amnesty for Mulla Omar and other top
leaders of the Taliban. Mr Keith, who had earlier characterized
Taliban as those involved in domestic terrorism and Al-Qaeda
members as those guilty of international terrorism, said senior
Taliban leaders were "inextricably bound with Al-Qaeda network."
"There are those among the Taliban leaders who definitely have
blood on their hands and it is expected that they would be brought
to justice," Mr Keith said.
On the issue of amnesty announced by Mr Karzai within hours of his
nomination as the interim prime minister, Mr Keith said that the
agreement reached at Bonn did not contain any such reference.
"We have seen the statement of Mr Karzai," he said, adding that
they had taken note of the Bonn agreement, which clearly stated
that international terrorists would be pursued by the transitional
authority. "We do not see anything to change that," he said. "We
are happy that the agreement reached at Bonn specifically contains
this reference."
On the negotiations going on between Mr Karzai and Mulla Omar in
Kandahar, he said they had independent reports that it had reached
a decisive phase. "We would welcome any agreement that would spare
bloodshed in Kandahar," he remarked. He did not give any details
about the agreement, saying that it would be speculative to predict
what would be the terms of the agreement.
However, he noted that Mr Karzai was a signatory of the Bonn
agreement that international terrorists would be pursued and
brought to justice. This principle would be embodied in every
negotiation, he added.
On the reports that Gen Dostum and some other leaders had raised
objections to the constitution of the interim government, he said
nobody ever pretended that the setting up of the interim government
would be a smooth process.
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20011206
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Amnesty for all declared: No revenge, vows new chief
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By M. Ismail Khan
PESHAWAR, Dec 5: The interim Afghan Prime Minister, Hamid Karzai,
announced general amnesty hours after he was nominated the head of
the transitional government.
"I have declared general amnesty to all. Let there be no revenge
and no vendetta," the 44-year-old Pakhtoon tribal leader, who
belongs to politically influential Populzai tribe, told Dawn.
Karzai said he would work hard to bring peace and reconciliation to
his homeland. "This will be my ultimate goal and I pray that Allah
gives me the strength to achieve the objective."
The son of an Afghan parliamentarian, who had served during the
rule of former King Zahir Shah, Karzai started off as secretary to
Mujahideen leader Prof. Sibghatullah Mojaddedi. He lived in
Peshawar for some time before moving to Quetta. His father, Ahad
Karzai, a royalist, was killed in Quetta in 1999. The Taliban were
blamed for the killing.
Hamid Karzai joined the so-called Rome Process in 1997 when the
former king, announced his plan to bring peace to Afghanistan. He
left for Kandahar in late October to fight the Taliban.
Speaking by telephone from northern Kandahar, where he was fighting
the Taliban to oust them from their last stronghold, Karzai said he
would make all-out efforts to convene the traditional Loya Jirga
within the stipulated six-month time given to him under the UN-
brokered agreement. "This is the best way to lasting peace."
The Afghan interim prime minister said he would favour the UN
peacekeeping forces in Kabul and other places to ensure peace if
his new administration could not mobilize enough resources to do so
on its own. "If we face problems in restoring peace due to paucity
of funds, then I would favour UN forces to help us out."
He appealed to the international community to come forward and help
Afghans in their effort to rebuild and reconstruct their country
devastated by decades of infighting.
Outlining his foreign policy, Hamid Karzai, who was a deputy
foreign minister in the Mujahideen government led by Prof.
Sibghatullah Mojaddedi in 1992, said he wanted friendly ties with
all the countries. "We want friendly relations with all the
countries including our neighbours."
He particularly mentioned Pakistan and Iran and said that he wanted
extremely good relations with these two countries. "I would like
strong, brotherly and good-neighbourly relations with Pakistan and
Iran which had stood with us during the Jihad."
Speaking of the injury caused by the American bombing, he said a
bomb exploded nearby, shattering windowpanes. Shrapnel also hit him
in the face slightly wounding him. "There is nothing serious," he
said.
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20011206
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Afghans sign power-sharing agreement
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By Amanullah Ghilzai
LONDON, Dec 5: Afghan factions meeting in Bonn signed an agreement
to end 23 years of civil war and to lead their country towards
rebuilding and democracy. Delegates continued their discussions
until dawn to finally agree on a post-Taliban government to be
headed by Hamid Karzai, a Pakhtoon and supporter of ex-king Zahir
Shah.
The signing ceremony was also attended by German Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder.
Mr Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for the United Nations, said all the
delegates had agreed upon the names of 30 people put forward, but
11 of those named still needed to be contacted for getting their
consent.
He said the new government would start functioning on Dec 22. It
will rule for six months. After the expiry of the six-month period,
former king Zahir Shah will call a Loya Jirga (grand assembly) to
appoint a transitional government for the subsequent 18 months.
The deal was sealed just in time for a donors conference at Berlin,
which is expected to approve immediate emergency humanitarian
assistance.
The new administration faces a mammoth rebuilding task requiring
billions of dollars in Western aid.
The Northern Alliance keeps the three most powerful ministries -
Yunis Qanuni will serve as interior minister, Mohammad Fahim as
defence minister and Abdullah Abdullah as foreign minister.
The three are Tajiks from the Panjsher Valley, the base of
legendary guerilla leader Ahmad Shah Masood, who was assassinated
on Sept 9.
There are women in the cabinet. The accord asks the UN Security
Council to send peacekeepers to guarantee security in Kabul.
The new interim administration has so far not specified a role for
Northern Alliance leader Burhanuddin Rabbani, the UN-recognized
president of Afghanistan.
The newly appointed foreign minister, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, had
said last week that his side was seeking no role for Prof Rabbani,
signalling a rift between its younger and older members. But the UN
blueprint contains an addition obviously intended to mollify the
Alliance leader, expressing "deep appreciation to His Excellency
Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani for his readiness to transfer power
to an interim authority".
Mr Karzai, selected for the top post, has an advantage of
representing the Pakhtoons, Afghanistan's biggest ethnic group. A
strong supporter of former king Zahir Shah, Mr Karzai came under
attack by Taliban forces a few weeks ago when he tried to rally
Pakhtoons living in the south of the country to support efforts for
a new government.
WOMAN DEPUTY PM: A woman has been named to become deputy prime
minister in Afghanistan's future interim administration, Abdul
Sattar Sirat from the ex-king's entourage in the Bonn negotiations,
said. add agencies.
Sima Samar is to hold the portfolios of deputy premiership and the
public health ministry.
Main points of Bonn accord
The agreement:
* acknowledges the right of the people of Afghanistan to freely
determine their own political future in accordance with the
principles of Islam, democracy, pluralism and social justice, and
expresses appreciation of the Afghan mujahedin for their years of
combat and sacrifice for the defence of the country's independence.
* notes that these interim arrangements are intended as a first
step toward the establishment of a broad-based, gender-sensitive,
multi-ethnic and fully representative government.
* establishes an Interim Authority consisting of a 30-member
Interim Administration presided over by a Chairman, a Special
Independent Commission for the Convening of the Emergency Loya
Jirga, a Central Bank and a Supreme Court.
* lays down that an Emergency Loya Jirga or assembly of elders
shall be convened within six months of the establishment of the
Interim Authority. The Emergency Loya Jirga will be opened by His
Majesty Mohammed Zahir Shah, the former King of Afghanistan.
* the Emergency Loya Jirga shall decide on a Transitional
Authority, including a broad-based transitional administration, to
lead Afghanistan until a fully representative government can be
elected through free and fair elections held no later than two
years from the date of the convening of the Emergency Loya Jirga.
* The agreement says that a Constitutional Loya Jirga shall be
convened within eighteen months of the establishment of the
Transitional Authority, in order to adopt a new constitution for
Afghanistan.
* The agreement also essentially restores the constitution of 1964,
save for the role given to the monarchy.
* It commits the Interim Administration to establish an independent
Human Rights Commission with UN help to monitor human rights and
investigate violations.
* The Special Independent Commission to convene the Emergency Loya
Jirga will ensure that due attention is paid to the representation
in the Emergency Loya Jirga of a significant number of women as
well as all other segments of the Afghan population.
* The Emergency Loya Jirga will elect a Head of the State for the
Transitional Administration.
Annex I to the agreement provides for an international security
force
* this says that while responsibility for law and order lies with
the Afghans themselves, some time may be needed for Afghans to
establish new security and armed forces.
* the participants to the talks therefore request the United
Nations Security Council to consider authorizing the early
deployment to Afghanistan of a United Nations mandated force. This
force will assist in the maintenance of security for Kabul and its
surrounding areas. Such a force could, as appropriate, be
progressively expanded to other urban centres and other areas.
* the participants pledge to withdraw all military units from Kabul
and other urban centers or other areas in which the UN-mandated
force is deployed.
The text of the agreement can be accessed at www.uno.de
List of ministers
BONN, Dec 5: Following is an approved but still incomplete list of
members of an interim government that will lead Afghanistan for a
six-month period. Of the 30 posts, 18 are from the Northern
Alliance, 11 are from the Rome group, and one from the Peshawar
group.
Chairman: Hamid Karzai (Rome)
Vice-Chair and Women's Affairs: Dr Sima Samar (Rome)
Vice-Chair and Defence: Mohammad Qaseem Fahim (United Front)
Vice-Chair and Planning: Haji Muhammad Mohaqqeq (United Front)
Vice-Chair and Water and Electricity: Shaker Kargar (United Front)
Vice-Chair and Finance: Hedayat Amin Arsala (Rome)
Members:
Dept of Foreign Affairs: Dr Abdullah Abdullah (United Front)
Dept of the Interior: Mohammad Yunus Qanooni (United Front)
Dept of Commerce: Seyyed Mustafa Kazemi (United Front)
Dept of Mines and Industries: Mohammad Alem Razm (United Front)
Dept of Small Industries: Aref Noorzai (United Front)
Dept of Information and Culture: Dr. Raheen Makhdoom (Rome)
Dept of Communication: Abdul Rahim (United Front)
Dept of Labour and Social Affairs: Mir Wais Sadeq (United Front)
Dept of Hajj et Auqaf: Mohammad Hanif Hanif Balkhi (United Front)
Dept of Martyrs et Disabled: Adbullah Wardak (United Front)
Dept of Higher Education: Dr Sharif Faez (United Front)
Dept of Public Health: Suhaila Siddiq (United Front)
Dept of Rural Development: Abdul Malik Anwar (Rome)
Dept of Urban Development: Haji Abdul Qadir (United Front)
Dept of Transport: Sultan Hamid Hamid (Rome)
Dept for the Return of Refugees: Enayatullah Nazeri (United Front)
Dept of Agriculture: Sayed Hussein Anwari (United Front)
Dept of Irrigation: Haji Mangal Hussein (Peshawar)
Dept of Justice: Abdul Rahim Karimi (United Front)
Dept of Air Transport and Tourism: Rahim Wardak (Rome)
Dept of Border Affairs: Amanullah Zadran (Rome)
Dept of Education: to be confirmed (Rome)
Dept of Public Works: to be confirmed (Rome)
Dept of Reconstruction: to be confirmed (Rome) -AFP
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20011205
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CIA seeks help to track down Osama: Talks held with Musharraf
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Staff Correspondent
NEW YORK, Dec 4: George J. Tenet, the director of Central
Intelligence Agency, met President Gen Pervez Musharraf in
Islamabad and sought tactical assistance for an assault on a
mountain base in eastern Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden is
suspected of hiding, said The New York Times.
During meetings with Gen Musharraf and top ISI officials, Mr Tenet
outlined aspects of the next phase of the war in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has been quietly expanding the use of three isolated
military bases by American Special Operations forces, the paper
said.
American Officials told the paper that Mr Tenet also said the US
planned to send more intelligence operatives into southern
Afghanistan. They urged President Musharraf to go further in
cracking down militant religious figures and other extremists.
Other officials told the paper that talks were the "strongest
attempt" to-date by the CIA to push Pakistan to rein in religious
extremists and monitor activities of pro-Taliban elements inside
and outside the government.
The American push comes as Gen Musharraf appears to have gained new
confidence in his ability to restrain outspoken religious leaders
and religious parties who have failed to ignite widespread outrage
over Pakistan's assistance to the US-led coalition.
CIA officials told their Pakistani counterparts that they would
need more help on the ground in coming weeks. One of the most
pressing requests was for more information about the base formerly
used by the anti-Soviet Mujahideen in the mountainous Tora Bora
region where some people think Osama might be hiding, the paper
said.
A senior Pakistani official said the Americans wanted help in
formulating plans to block exits from the remote region and
information about how to reach the maze of elaborate caves and
tunnels that may be Osama's last refuge.
Officials did not say what the Pakistani response was to that
particular request, but said the Pakistanis had been generally
helpful to the alliance in providing that sort of assistance when
requested, the Times said.
Officials said Mr Tenet and members of his team had also described
plans to expand the covert war in southern Afghanistan by
increasing the number of operatives working there. They are
expected to stage a variety of missions aimed at helping track down
members of Al Qaeda and providing more money to buy the loyalty of
anti-Taliban forces and secure defections from the Taliban
commanders, the officials said.
The NYT said that providing assistance to the American intelligence
agency underscored Pakistan's determination to cast its lot with
the coalition, but that has not eased all of the suspicions among
the Americans about the Pakistani military and intelligence
services. Substantial elements of both are known to remain strongly
pro-Taliban and to resent Pakistan's growing alliance with the
United States. But Lt-Gen Ehsan ul-Haq, appointed by Gen Musharraf
as director of the ISI in October, is regarded as a moderate who is
respected by American intelligence officials and appears willing to
cooperate with them, officials said.
Mr Tenet left Islamabad on Saturday for Germany where he boarded
the plane that carried the body of Johnny Michael Spann, the CIA
officer killed last week in a so-called prison revolt in northern
Afghanistan. The plane arrived in the United States on Sunday.
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20011204
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Islamabad cooperating with US: envoy
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Bureau Report
PESHAWAR, Dec 3: Islamabad is cooperating with the United States on
preventing 'undesirables' from crossing over to its side of the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border, with the two countries working jointly
to get information from those arrested when sneaking into Pakistan
recently.
"I am quite confident that the government of Pakistan is committed
absolutely to preventing any of al-Qaeda or senior Taliban (member
from escaping)," US ambassador to Islamabad Windey Chamberlin said.
During her day-long visit to Peshawar, the US ambassador held
meetings with the NWFP governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, Corps
Commander of the 11-corps Lt-Gen Ali Mohammed Jan Orakzai.
She was also briefed about the refugees' affairs in the NWFP by the
Commissioner Afghan Refugees, NWFP, Mr Mohammed Naeem Khan. Without
disclosing the number of 'undesirables' intercepted after they
entered Pakistan, she said "we are working jointly to get
information (from them)."
Pakistani authorities are holding three of the Taliban's foreign
troops who were arrested by the border security forces as they
tried to sneak into this side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
"I can't give you the numbers," she said, when asked how many al-
Qaeda members or Taliban leaders had been arrested upon their
arrival in Pakistan. "It is a long, 1,500-mile border; it is porous
and rugged and it would be hard to make any hard and fast
statements," she said concerning the number of al-Qaeda members and
Taliban leaders who have crossed over to Pakistan.
With Corps Commander Lt-Gen Ali Mohammed Jan Orakzai, Chamberlin
said issues relating to Pakistan border security came under
discussion, particularly the $73m assistance the US was extending
to Islamabad for enhancing its security on the country's border
with Afghanistan.
"Congress has appropriated the money. We are actively putting it
together as we speak," she told this correspondent. The assistance,
she said, was meant to help Pakistan strengthen its ability to
protect the border with Afghanistan in the long term.
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20011203
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No Pakistani jets flew into Afghanistan, says US
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Masood Haider
NEW YORK, Dec 2: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that he
was convinced that Pakistan did not fly any airplanes or
helicopters into Afghanistan to evacuate any Pakistani prisoners
from there.
In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press", Rumsfeld said:
"According to my information neither Pakistan nor any other country
flew any planes into Afghanistan to evacuate anybody."
He said Pakistan was cooperating fully with the United States in
its campaign against terrorism as it had deployed crack troops on
the border with Afghanistan to stop anyone from escaping into
Pakistan.
He said the US had been monitoring the skies in Afghanistan as
skillfully as possible and that he had not seen any evidence of any
planes flying to evacuate anybody to Pakistan or any other country.
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20011202
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Rumsfeld stresses mly ties with Pakistan
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ISLAMABAD, Dec 1: The US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld said in
an interview with PTV that Pakistan-US defence cooperation should
not become victim of ups and downs in the political relationship.
He said, military-to-military linkages should be maintained. He
pointed out that military contacts and exchanges programs have
benefited both Pakistan and the United States.
To a question about West's apprehensions about Pakistan's nuclear
assets, Mr Rumsfeld said that I fully respect the assertion of
President Musharraf and his government's nuclear programs and
assets were being managed safely and handled with responsibility.
He appreciated that President Musharraf recognized the
responsibility that comes with the weapons of mass destruction and
he is taking proper steps to ensure their safe management.
Asked what role the United States can play to help resolve the
Kashmir dispute, Mr Rumsfeld said President Bush and secretary of
state Colin Powell had repeatedly expressed American interest in
the peaceful resolution of the disputes and differences including
Kashmir.
To a question Mr Rumsfeld said that the United States had no
intention to station troops in Afghanistan on long term basis. "Our
only interest in Afghanistan is to deal with Al Qaeda and change
the leadership to pave way for stable and broad-based government."
Dr Condoleezza Rice, assistant to US President on national security
affairs, also in a interview with Radio Pakistan and PTV at the
White House, said that the United States was working on big plans
to build a long-term relationship with Pakistan.
She said the United States believes that Pakistan is not just
important to American security interests but important to peace and
security in South Asia and the world.
She categorically stated that the United States will not turn away
from Pakistan after the current crisis. Instead, she said,
"Washington expects it to be a long-term relationship to build a
prosperous Pakistan." She hoped that President Musharraf's
commitment to hold elections in October next would bring more
stability to Pakistan.-APP
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20011202
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Coalition under fire
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ISLAMABAD, Dec 1: The US-led coalition fighting in Afghanistan and
the Northern Alliance came under fire for ruling out an inquiry
into the killing of hundreds of Taliban prisoners.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, dismissing calls for an
investigation, said in an interview with the BBC: "The idea that at
this moment we could have a judicial inquiry into the difficult
circumstances of Mazar-i-Sharif is frankly not on."
Amnesty condemned Britain's stance. It said "serious abuses of
international human rights and humanitarian law may have been
committed".
"The rejection of an inquiry by the United Kingdom into what is
apparently the single most bloody incident of the war ... raises
questions about their commitment to the rule of law," Amnesty said
in a statement." What can there be to fear from an inquiry except
the truth and a clear message that impunity will not be tolerated?"
Amnesty said an international investigation involving the United
Nations should be considered if the US-led coalition refused to do
its own.-AFP
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20011202
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Fatal errors that led to Qala-i-Jangi massacre
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Guardian staff writers
LONDON, Dec 1: A single, horrific, atrocity has provided a defining
moment in every war of the modern age. America is still facing
demands to apologize for the 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam, while
the remains of charred Iraqi soldiers on the Mutla Ridge, outside
Kuwait, provided a chilling illustration of Washington's
overwhelming firepower during the Gulf war.
Questions are being asked about whether the bloody end to this
week's prison siege at the 19th-century Qala-i-Jangi, outside
Mazar-i-Sharif, will provide the defining moment of the Afghan war.
Pictures of aid workers picking their way through the corpses of
hundreds of Taliban prisoners, killed by a combination of US
bombing and Northern Alliance savagery, have caused revulsion
around the world.
As pressure grows on Britain and the US to hold an inquiry into the
killings, Guardian has pieced together a minute-by-minute account
of this week's events. This suggests that from the very first, when
Taliban soldiers fell into the hands of the Alliance after the fall
of Kunduz, a series of catastrophic errors were made.
Amir Jan, a Pakhtoon commander who defected to the anti-Taliban
opposition earlier this year, said that the elite foreign fighters
from Kunduz were never supposed to turn up in Mazar-i-Sharif,
Afghanistan's main northern city.
The foreigners - Arabs, Pakistanis, Chechens and Uzbeks - were
meant to surrender at Erganak, a mountainous frontline position
20kms west of Kunduz. Instead, they travelled across the desert
through the night and arrived on the outskirts of Mazar, in a
wilderness of desert and telegraph poles, at 3am last Saturday.
Mullah Fahzel, the Taliban's commander at Kunduz, had instructed
the foreign fighters to give up their weapons - but failed to tell
them that they would then be taken into custody. "The foreigners
thought that after surrendering to the Northern Alliance they would
be free," Jan said. "They didn't think they would be put in jail."
While US soldiers dressed in desert khaki set up satellite links,
soldiers loyal to the alliance warlord General Rashid Dostam took
up attack positions. After three to four hours' negotiation, the
Taliban fighters agreed to surrender again - but only to Amir Jan,
whom they trusted because of his Pakhtoon roots and Taliban
history. Dostam's militia then began disarming the Taliban fighters
and piling their weapons into a green lorry.
Dostam had arranged to take the prisoners to Mazar-i-Sharif's large
Soviet-built airfield, well away from the centre of the city. But
American special forces vetoed the plan, saying that the runway
could be needed for military operations, Jan revealed.
Instead, Dostam would take the prisoners to his own personal
fortress on the muddy outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif, the Qala-i-
Jangi. Over the previous two weeks several American officers had
secretly spent many hours in the castle. They knew it was full of
heavy weaponry.
Nonetheless, they agreed with Dostam's impromptu scheme. By mid-
afternoon on Saturday, the prisoners had been piled into five
trucks. Said Kamal, Dostam's head of security, arranged for
prisoners in the first three trucks to be body searched. But with
dusk approaching, the convoy set off with the last two trucks not
searched. This proved to be disastrous.
While Dostam set off with the bulk of his army towards Kunduz, the
convoy rolled the other way into the Qala-i-Jangi, where a
comparatively small number of guards had been left behind. Nader
Ali, Dostam's chief of police, made another attempt to search the
prisoners soon after they arrived in late afternoon. As he was
about to be frisked a Taliban fighter detonated a hidden grenade
killing himself, Ali and another Dostam aide.
While the dying Ali was carried away, soldiers then bundled the
Taliban fighters into the stable area to the north of the compound.
The search was abandoned.
That night eight of Osama bin Laden's fighters blew themselves up
in a room in the prisoners' compound, Jan said. It soon became
clear that a large minority of the Taliban were still armed with
grenades. "After that I decided they were hardliners, that they
were dangerous," Jan added. "We agreed it would be better to tie up
their hands and put them in the basement."
The following morning (Sunday) guards prepared to implement the new
order. At the same time Simon Brooks, the head of the International
Committee for the Red Cross in northern Afghanistan, swept into the
Qala-i-Jangi in his white Red Cross vehicle. He had come to seek
reassurances from Kamal that the prisoners would be treated
humanely. The Red Cross also wanted to register the prisoners'
names and allow them to send a message back to their families.
Brooks was not the only person interested in the new Arab,
Pakistani and Chechen detainees.
CIA AGENTS: Two CIA agents, Johnny "Mike" Spann and "Dave", had
also been instructed to screen the Taliban fighters for possible
links with al-Qaida. From a distance Dave looked Afghan. He even
spoke Uzbek, the language of Dostam's soldiers, and wore a shalwar
kameez beneath a long coat. But his square-cropped haircut gave the
game away, and revealed him as an American.
Two television crews - from Reuters and the German station ARD -
had also turned up at the fort. They were in the prisoners'
compound, together with Dave and Mike, who had begun interviewing
suspects.
At 11:25am the Taliban fighters were marched to the central grassy
compound of their mini-citadel. The guards tied up the first eight
prisoners, Jan said. "The prisoners suspected they were about to be
shot. They attacked one of the guards and grabbed his gun," he
added. The foreign fighters had also assumed that the television
journalists were American soldiers who had come to film their
execution.
Another prisoner grabbed Mike and set off a grenade, blowing him
up. This conflicts with the CIA account of his death which says
that he was shot.
All hell then broke loose: the prisoners shot dead five guards and
grabbed their weapons, while the journalists ran for cover. Dave
only managed to escape by shooting dead at least one Taliban
prisoner with his pistol. A firefight blew up between the
prisoners, now in charge of their own fortified area, and soldiers
sitting in Dostam's headquarters building 300 metres away, down a
line of trees.
"Dave managed to reach the rooftop [of Dostam's HQ] about 15
minutes after fighting broke out," Brooks said. "One of the Taliban
who had obviously been wired with explosives simply grabbed the
other American and the bomb detonated."
"I met Dave in the building. He was absolutely completely shocked
and really quite scared. I can now understand why: he witnessed his
friend being blown up. He had managed to shoot his way out and run
150 metres out of the building."
Soon the firefight had developed into a major battle, as the
Taliban prisoners broke into the arms depot in their compound and
helped themselves to mortars and rocket launchers. From the
rooftop, Dave borrowed a satellite phone from the German television
crew and phoned the American embassy in Uzbekistan.
"We have lost control of the situation. Send in helicopters and
troops," he said.
The call appeared to work. As the Red Cross vehicle blazed in the
car park, and Brooks slithered down the mud battlements to safety,
the Pentagon prepared to send in the airforce. Most of the eight
prisoners who had been tied up when the battle broke out were shot
dead in the early minutes; the others were able to take cover.
Their bodies were still there four days later when Dostam's troops
were finally able to re-enter the compound.
At 3:30pm the jets dispatched by the Pentagon fired nine or 10
missiles directly into the Taliban's positions. All of them hit
their target - apart from the last one, which sank into a field
more than one kilometre away.
In the confusion, a small group of at least 10 prisoners escaped.
The following day the remaining Taliban, some armed with rocket
launchers, held out as B-52 bombers flew repeatedly overhead.
Alarmed by the resilience of the Taliban fighters, further special
forces arrived at the base on Tuesday. They reportedly advised the
alliance to flush out the remaining Taliban by pouring oil into the
basement and setting fire to it.
It took a tank and an intensification of bombings from the air to
finish them off.
Confident that the way was clear, the alliance regained control of
the fortress on Wednesday. But on Thursday it emerged that a lone
Taliban was still holed up in a basement of the fortress where he
was surviving on horse meat.
High above the lone survivor, the imposing figure of Dostam toured
the fortress where the full horror of the siege was on display. A
photographer saw the bodies of up to 50 Taliban fighters, whose
hands had been bound by scarves, laid out in a field in the
southern part of the fort. The photographer watched as alliance
fighters cut the scarves from the hands of some of the corpses; at
least one picked gold fillings from a corpse.
WAR CRIMES: As Washington attempted to wash its hands of the
episode, saying that the alliance was responsible for the
prisoners, human rights lawyers warned that the Geneva convention
may have been breached on two counts. This is over the degrading
treatment of the Taliban, when they were tied up, and the huge
firepower directed at them by US warplanes.
On the first count, article 13 of the convention says: "Prisoners
of war must at all times be humanely treated." On the second count,
the convention permits the use of force against prisoners. But it
says that this must be proportionate.
Christopher Greenwood, professor of international relations at the
London School of Economics and joint editor of International Law
Reports, said that killing people with hands tied behind their
backs was illegal.
"If it was heavy-handed overreaction, it was illegal,", he said.
Amid the doubts about the legality of the US and alliance response,
there were also questions about the conduct of the two CIA
officers. Adam Roberts, professor of international relations at
Oxford University and a leading authority on the laws of war,
described their conduct as "incredibly stupid and unprofessional".
Angered by the death of Spann - the first American to die in the
conflict - CIA director George Tenet swept aside the criticism as
he accused the Taliban of premeditated murder.
"Their prison uprising - which has murder as its goal - claimed
many lives, among them that of a very brave American," he said of
Spann, who worked in the directorate of operations, which analysts
say is involved in "paramilitary" activities.
As the final bodies are cleared, the battle has now moved to
Britain and America, where both governments have rejected calls by
Amnesty International for an inquiry. Amnesty hit back, saying that
this raised questions about their commitment to the rule of law.
A head of steam is unlikely to build up around this issue, however.
At his weekly appearance in the Commons this week, British Prime
Minister Tony Blair faced only one question about Afghanistan and
that was about Marjan, the one-eyed lion at Kabul zoo.-Dawn/The
Guardian News Service.
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20011202
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Pakistan seeks access to detained suspects
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Dec 1: Pakistan ambassador Dr Maleeha Lodhi met
Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca to
discuss the issue of people of Pakistani origin detained in the
United States following the events of September 11.
This has been an ongoing subject of discussion between Pakistan and
US officials for the past many weeks. According to Justice
Department figures released last week, 208 persons born in Pakistan
are being held on immigration charges. Their names have not been
announced.
According to an embassy press release, the ambassador informed Ms
Rocca that they would like the US authorities to provide the names
of all Pakistani detainees, the location of the detention centres,
and specific charges under which they had been detained.
The ambassador also requested consular access to the detainees and
reiterated the earlier offer that Pakistani missions in the US
would be ready to facilitate the deportation process in cases where
the detainees agreed not to contest their deportation.
Ms Rocca was said to have reaffirmed the US authorities' desire to
be helpful in this matter. The press release said it had been
assured by the American officials that the detainees would be
treated in accordance with the US law and that the US government
would fulfil its obligations under the Vienna Convention.
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20011204
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Convicts might be barred from contesting poll
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Dec 3: Pakistan Awami Tehrik chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri
thinks that the government will soon issue an ordinance to bar
convicted leaders from taking part in politics or heading any
party.
Talking to reporters, he said President Musharraf in his meetings
with PPP leaders had made it amply clear that Ms Bhutto could not
take part in politics. But, he regretted PPP leaders after coming
out of the meeting hall had issued quite different statements about
the outcome of their meeting.
He believed that the elections as well as the transfer of power
would take place in October. He proposed that elections should be
held under the judicial control of the Election Commission and
administrative control of the army.
Answering a question, Dr Qadri said so far as he knew that the
government had no favourites for the transfer of power. He hoped
that a ban on political activity would be lifted by March.
Answering a question, he said, if invited the PAT would certainly
participate in the APC being called by Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan.
However, he said, there was no need for such a conference at this
juncture.
He said the PAT supported the government's right to amend the
Constitution, as also explained by the apex court. He said only a
few seminaries had exploited the sacred name of jihad and misused
the funds they had collected to give a bad name to the entire
religious community and the country. He said the government must
end "madressah politics" and deal with those besmirching the name
of Pakistan. For achieving this goal, he said, it was necessary to
strengthen the country economically, end poverty and illiteracy.
It was necessary to enlighten the youth through modern education
and scientific research. Pakistan had put a lot at stake for a
fight against terrorism but the international community was yet to
respond in kind to its sacrifice, he said. The world must help
Pakistan in every way to put it back on its economic feet, he
emphasised.
The international community had pledged over $20 billion for the
reconstruction of Afghanistan, it would not be proper on its part
to ignore Pakistan in its reconstruction effort.
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20011203
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Preparation of electoral rolls begins: Election 2002
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Habib Khan Ghori
KARACHI, Dec 2: Preparations for new electoral rolls have started
for the promised October 2002 general elections in the country.
Persons of 21 years of age and above on Jan 1st, 2002, will be
enrolled as voters in the draft, which will be ready for inviting
objections by Dec 20.
After decision on objections on the draft lists, a door-to-door
campaign for verification of the rolls would be launched from
January 1st, which will be completed within twenty days. For this
purpose, about 72,000 election staff will be recruited from the
employees of education department, banks, financial institutions
and other government organizations.
Although the elections will be held on a party basis, so far except
demands by certain leaders for holding fair and free polls, no
political party has initiated any exercise to warm up its party
cadres. The political leaders appear to be demoralized,
particularly in the case of three main rivals - PPP, PML and MQM -
whose top leaders have taken refuge abroad.
They pointed out that President Pervez Musharraf will unveil a
detailed election schedule on Aug 14, and by that time all ground
rules would have also been announced. Only after that the political
parties would be in a position to take decision on how to jump into
the fray. But, this will leave very little time for electioneering.
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20011203
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Shahbaz was banished 'against his consent'
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Dec 2: Almost a year after being exiled to Saudi Arabia
along with the rest of the Sharif family members, former Punjab
chief minister Shahbaz Sharif alleged that he was banished against
his consent.
In the first ever formal statement issued through his former press
secretary, Mr Shahbaz disputed official spokesman's assertion that
the return of some female members of the Sharif family to Pakistan
was a violative of the agreement. Rejecting the statement as absurd
and false, he said there was no such agreement under which the
women members of the family could not live in Pakistan.
The statement said that it was Dec 7 last year when he was in
Landhi Jail, Karachi, that a "representative" from Islamabad came
to him to tell that the Sharif family was being sent out of the
country, and he, too, was among them. Shahbaz Sharif said he
refused to leave the country. On this, the emissary told him that
in case he refused, his ailing father, mother and other family
members would also not be allowed to go.
The message was astonishing, Shahbaz Sharif said, as on the one
hand the government had implicated them in baseless cases and on
the other he was being blackmailed in the name of his family.
The former chief minister said that he was told in plain terms that
he would have to leave the country. Shahbaz Sharif said he asked
the emissary that Gen Musharraf should be told that the former was
reluctant to leave Pakistan and that he should not be forced.
However, the message from Islamabad was that the ex-chief minister
would have to do as told.
Shahbaz Sharif said people who brought him out of his jail cell
shared the view that it was an injustice but they could not help
him talk to the corps commander. He was first brought to Multan and
then to Lahore where his brother Abbas Sharif was already present.
According to the statement, the highest military authority told him
before his flight for Jeddah took off that he had great respect for
him (the former chief minister). In response, he said, if it was
really so, he should not force him to leave the country. He also
requested that he should be sent back to Landhi Jail.
The military authority, he said, told him that it was not possible
for him to oblige him and that for the time being he would have to
leave the country.
Mr Shahbaz Sharif asked the army if it was justified for the
institution, meant to defend the country and honour of the people,
to force women to leave the country. He said such tactics could not
demoralize the Sharifs nor could they keep them away from their
people and the country for long.
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20011203
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Ejaz seeks sedition case against Benazir
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Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Dec 2: PML-QA Senior Vice-President Ejazul Haq demanded a
sedition case against PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto for her
reckless utterances during her recent visit to India on the Kashmir
issue which were in conflict with the country's consistent national stand
on the issue.
Talking to reporters Mr Ejaz alleged that the PPP chairperson had
gone desperate and she was making statements just to please some
important countries to win their support. He urged the 'patriotic
workers' of the PPP to take a serious notice of the statements
issued by their leader.
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20011204
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PML-N concerned over Benazir's statement
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Dec 3: The PML(N) expressed concern over the reported
statements of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto on the freedom
movement in occupied Kashmir and Pakistan's role in it during her
visit to India.
A resolution adopted at a meeting of the divisional scrutiny
committees, held under the chairmanship of Zulfiqar Khosa, said
these statements were in conflict with national interests. The PML-
N and the PPP are allies in the ARD.
Mr Khosa said in his speech that by adopting a viewpoint of
Afghanistan which was contrary to the national aspirations, and
supporting Indian point of view on the freedom movement in occupied
Kashmir, the PPP chairperson had hurt the feelings of the entire
nation. He ruled out alliance with the PML-QA, saying the PML-N
would make adjustments with the recognized political forces.
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20011207
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Court orders release of Farooquis
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec 6: An accountability court ordered release of the
former chief of Pakistan Steel, Mohammad Usman Farooqui, his wife
and their daughter in a reference.
Judge Rahmat Hussain Jafferi of AC-3 ordered the release after Mr
Farooqui and his family surrendered over Rs330 million assets.
Mr Farooqui, his wife, Aneesa Farooqui, and their daughter,
Sharmila Farooqui, had been charged with acquiring movable and
immovable properties and assets through illegal means.
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20011206
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Govt sets condition to end Fazl's detention
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Correspondent
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Dec 5: The Peshawar High Court was told that if
Jamiat Ulema Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was ready to
submit a bond that he will obey the government and not cause any
disorder, the NWFP government would not extend his detention after
Thursday.
Deputy Advocate General Shaukat Hayat Khakwani said that if Maulana
Rehman was not ready to make such a commitment, the Home office
would resist his release even on bonds.
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20011203
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Foreign newsman expelled
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Staff Correspondent
QUETTA, Dec 2: The government expelled another journalist for his
alleged involvement in undesirable activities. Rajiv Chandrasekaran
of the Washington Post, was asked by officials to leave the country
immediately.
He was taken into custody by the local authorities and detained at
the Railways Rest House before being sent to Islamabad by a PIA
flight in the afternoon.
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20011202
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Musharraf's wife not buying house in US
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Dec 1: The Pakistan embassy here has dismissed as
utterly baseless and motivated a report said to have been published
in India that the wife of Gen Pervez Musharraf has been visiting
Washington, looking for a house to buy in the US.
The report was mentioned by an Indian journalist at the White House
briefing. The journalist asked Mr Fleischer to comment on the
report "that Mrs Musharraf, was in Washington twice recently last
week, looking for a house. Is there something... and senior US
officials helped her to look some houses in Washington, DC, and in
New York. Is there something..."
Fleischer: I have not heard anything about that, to confirm that,
or shed any light on that. I have not heard that.
Q: She is planning to move to the US.
Fleischer: I have not heard anything about that, so I have nothing
to offer on it. I don't know if that's true or not.
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20011202
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22 killed in Kashmir clashes
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SRINAGAR, Dec 1: At least 22 people were killed in clashes in
Kashmir, police said. Unidentified men disguised as policemen
killed six people in Udhampur district, including four belonging to
a village defence committee, police said.
Police have launched search and rescue operations in the hilly
forested area, but so far have failed to arrest any of the
assailants.
At Sonamulla village, in Kupwara district, Indian army soldiers and
police shot dead three freedom fighters.
Indian forces claimed killing four Mujahideen at the villages of
Dub Magam and Machil, in Kupwara, police said. Two more Mujahideen
were shot dead in the districts of Anantnag and Pulwama overnight,
police said. Six more people, four of them Mujahideen, were killed
elsewhere in held Kashmir on Friday evening or Saturday, police
said.
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20011204
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Former MNA convicted
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Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Dec 3: Akbar Ali Bhatti, ex-MNA from Vehari and former
owner-cum-editor of an Urdu daily, was convicted by an
accountability court and sentenced to three years rigorous
imprisonment and a fine of Rs 11.8 million for willful default in
payment of government dues and misuse of public office.
Announcing the judgment, Judge Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain also
disqualified the former MNA from holding public office and securing
loans from banks for 10 years.
According to the prosecution, Mr Akbar Ali Bhatti misused his
public office as MNA for acquiring the Palla Pond government land
in Maillsi (Vehari) on lease for his company, the Akbar Brothers,
but did not pay the requisite dues. Mr Bhatti, however, denied the
charges.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
20011208
-------------------------------------------------------------------
IMF okays $1.3bn facility
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Dec 7: The International Monetary Fund's executive
board agreed to lend $1.3 billion to Pakistan for Poverty
Alleviation Program.
A detailed Press release, possibly detailing conditions on which
the lending is based, was still awaited at noon on Friday, but Mr
William Murray, an IMF spokesman, confirmed that the board had
approved a three-year arrangement for Pakistan under the Poverty
Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), totalling SDR 1.033 billion
(about US$1.309).
As a result of this decision, he said, Pakistan would be able to
draw SDR 86.16 million (about US$109 million) under the
arrangement. PRGF loans carry an annual interest of 0.5 per cent,
and are repayable over 10 years with a five-and-a-half-year grace
period on principal payments.
The new package follows earlier aid to Pakistan and opens the way
for favorable consideration of Pakistan's case for debt relief and
assistance at the forthcoming Paris Club meeting.
Pakistan can access $109 million immediately as part of the $1.3
billion approved on Thursday. The IMF executive board meeting had
continued almost all day.
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20011208
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IMF allows Pakistan to raise deficit target
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Ihtashamul Haque
ISLAMABAD, Dec 7: In a major policy shift, the International
Monetary Fund has allowed Pakistan a budgetary deficit target of
5.7 per cent for 2001-2002, to effectively help address concerns on
poverty and stimulate growth in the country.
"We had earlier agreed to enhance budgetary deficit target from the
original 4.9 per cent to 5.3 per cent, but now we are allowing
Pakistan government to stretch this target further to 5.7 per cent
for substantially alleviating poverty and accelerating growth,"
disclosed a senior IMF official.
Talking to Dawn, the IMF Senior Representative in Pakistan, Henri
Ghesquiere, however, said the government would have to increase
funding for social sector under the Khushal Pakistan program to
justify relaxation in budget deficit target.
All the three IMF lending programs offered during the last one
decade had four per cent of the GDP as the end-year budgetary
deficit target, which was never met and hence no program was
completed. Only the ten-month-long $596 million Standby Agreement
(SBA) that ended on September 30 this year was successfully
completed, though the target set for the budgetary deficit for the
whole year still looks far from achievable.
Still, ostensibly on the basis of the completion of this program, a
new three-year $1.3 billion Poverty Reduction Growth Facility was
approved by the IMF Executive Board in Washington on Thursday. The
first installment of the $109 million 36-month lending program, the
IMF official said would be disbursed to Pakistan next week.
"There will be 12 equal instalments of the new lending program," he
said, adding that countries like Pakistan generally had a 60 per
cent lending quota under Special Drawing Rights, which had now been
increased to 100 per cent as a special favour by the IMF Executive
Board.
Mr Ghesquiere said as a result of the fallout of Sept 11 events;
the Central Board of Revenue could not achieve desired revenue
targets during the first quarter of the current financial year.
This was also one of the reasons for the IMF to initially allow the
relaxation in the budget deficit target from 4.9 per cent to 5.3
per cent. "We have agreed with the government that revenue target
will now be Rs430 billion and not Rs457 billion which was set at
the time of the announcement of the federal budget in June this
year," he further disclosed.
Nevertheless, he made it clear that now the CBR would have to
effectively carry out various reforms under its restructuring
program. "Mobilizing domestic revenues will be essential for the
CBR to enable the government to have the much-needed funds for
social sector," he said. There had been an exceptional impact on
revenues due to Sept 11 events which specially hurt customs duties,
he said.
"Now when the new IMF lending program has been approved, issues
relating to governance, economic growth, financial stability and
poverty will have to be taken up seriously by the government," the
IMF official said.
Responding to a question, he said approval of the IMF lending
program had paved the way for "re-profiling of debts" by the Paris
Club which was meeting in Paris next week.
"The Paris Club will re-profile Pakistan's loans rather than going
for their rescheduling which is very beneficial for Pakistan," the
IMF official said, adding that re-profiling would help the writing
off of certain loans and reduction of interest rate.
He said Pakistan's $3.2 billion financing gap for the current
financial year would be jointly filled by the IMF, Paris Club and
some other creditors. The Paris Club is expected to cover this gap
by extending $700 million to $900 million to Pakistan. Pakistan's
three-year financing gap is estimated to be 8 to 9 billion dollars.
Asked about Pakistan's huge foreign debt, the IMF official said
that a certain coherent strategy was needed to be worked out to
avoid debt trap.
To a question, he said Pakistan was expected to achieve 3.7 per
cent GDP growth rate during 2001-2002. The level of foreign
exchange reserves, he said, would have to be equal to three months
of imports, he added.
Mr Henri also said that a decision had been taken that no
objections would be raised to Pakistan's central bank buying dollar
from the open market. Pakistan's exports, he said, should not
become incompetitive for which trends of the dollar would have to
be observed carefully.
He said the current rate of inflation was estimated to be 2.5
percent, which, he added, was very good for Pakistan.
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20011206
-------------------------------------------------------------------
IMF asked for $1.3 billion loan
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Dec 5: The government has asked the International
Monetary Fund for grant of about $1.3 billion of concessional loan,
equivalent to 100 per cent of Pakistan's Special Drawing Rights
(SDR) quota, from the Fund's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility.
The IMF Board is meeting in Washington to consider Pakistan's
request for the loan. Under the PRGF terms of eligibility, a
country may borrow up to a maximum of 140 per cent of its IMF quota
of SDRs, although this limit may be increased under exceptional
circumstances to a maximum of 185 per cent of quota.
The IMF had indicated that it was prepared to allocate to Pakistan
a loan of about $700 million, equivalent to about 60 per cent of
Pakistan's quota, totalling 1.03 billion SDRs or about $1.3
billion.
"We have asked for a loan equivalent to 100 per cent of our SDR
quota and hopefully we will get roughly $1.3 billion new funding
line under the PRGF program," said Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz.
Talking to Dawn before leaving for Germany, Italy and France, he
said prospects for getting the PRGF with increased funding were
bright due to improved economic situation. He said the IMF
Executive Board was meeting in Washington to discuss and approve
the PRGF for Pakistan. "The approval of the PRGF will help us in
getting our substantial loans rescheduled by the Paris Club," the
finance minister said.
Giving details of his visit, he said that bilateral talks would be
held with Germany, Italy and France to get enhanced financial
support and to secure additional market access for Pakistani goods.
"I will be reaching Berlin first and we hope to get additional 100
million DM from Germany," he said, adding that there were also
expectations for enhanced trade and economic relations between the
two sides. "We are also expecting a major debt relief from
Germany," Aziz said. He also hoped to get one billion-dollar German
loan converted into social sector funding.
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20011207
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Germany to give DM300m aid
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Dec 6: Germany has decided to offer DM300 million
assistance to Pakistan, which included DM100 million for debt swap.
This debt swap is for two years, and as such DM50 million will be
offered this year and another DM50 million will be made available
next year. The amount of debt would now be spent for development
purposes.
Also, the new German aid included DM75 million of fresh loan/grant
for economic assistance as well as DM110 million for reprogramming
of old assistance.
According to an official announcement made by the ministry of
finance, negotiations were finalized in Bonn by Pakistani
delegation.
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20011202
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US targets $5 trillion oil, gas reserves
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Khaleeq Kiani
ISLAMABAD, Dec 1: While Pakistan expects realization of $2 billion
Pakistan-Turkmenistan gas pipeline in the post-Afghan war
situation, the United States is targeting to capture around $5
trillion of oil and gas' proven reserves in the Central Asian
States.
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan jointly hold
around 15-30 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and around 240
trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves in the Caspian Sea
Region. At last year's market rate, these reserves were valued at
$4-5 trillion, according to independent studies.
Some energy experts in Pakistan believe that as the United States
launched the Desert Storm operation in the Gulf in early 1990s to
take hold of Arab reserves, the same pattern is being followed in
Afghanistan to put its foot in the Caspian Sea Region.
The Heritage Foundation in a testimony to the house of
representatives in 1999 said that Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan together "have 15 billion barrels of
proven oil reserves and gas deposits totalling over nine trillion
cubic meters."
These analysts believe that a peaceful Afghanistan can play a role
of connecting pipelines from Central Asia to international markets
of Europe and South Asia besides its own large oil and gas deposits
that remained untapped because of unending war for over two
decades.
The US-based Unocal withdrew its leading role from Centgas
consortium as that had signed an agreement with Pakistan for laying
a 1600-km pipeline from Daulatabad in Turkmenistan to Multan in
Pakistan through Afghanistan. But before withdrawal, officials of
US intelligence agencies made comprehensive surveys of the
prospective zones and pipeline routes.
Many in the petroleum ministry in Islamabad suggested that pipeline
tariff finalized in the agreement was so low than other competitors
from Iran and Qatar that they saw it with skepticism. Another $600
million investment could have linked this pipeline to India.
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20011208
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Investment down in first quarter: SBP
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Mohiuddin Aazim
KARACHI, Dec 7: The State Bank of Pakistan says doubts will linger
on about Pakistan's economic prospects - and about the speed with
which things will return to normal - until "there is a credible
solution to the Afghan situation."
Meanwhile, the country "should shore up confidence by taking
difficult steps in terms of fiscal reforms," says SBP's first
quarterly report released.
The report says Pakistan should also go for merging the inter- bank
and open foreign exchange markets, dismantling subsidies and
improving the financial viability of state-owned enterprises. It
says if proper steps are taken to help the agriculture sector and
weather conditions remain favourable a certain level of the
economic growth could be assured. Earlier, the SBP had said in its
annual report for the outgoing fiscal year, that Pakistan's economy
could grow by 2.5-3.75 per cent in the current fiscal year.
The quarterly report that covers the events of July-September 2001
says although uncertainty still remains following September 11, the
reforms implemented during the past year have improved Pakistan's
macroeconomic fundamentals. That, in turn, has made the economy
more resilient to such shocks.
The report says though the war in Afghanistan has entered a new
phase with the strategic retreat of Taliban forces...the
implications for Pakistan are still unclear. But it points out that
the war-risk premium has been taking a toll on both importers and
exporters.
The report says the actual implications of the Afghan war will only
be realized in the second quarter of this fiscal year - between
October-December 2001.
"In the post-war uncertainty, the exporters suffered not just in
terms of the war premium and higher transportation costs, but also
due to the appreciating rupee and reduced orders from the US and
EU. "There is also a real fear that even if conditions return to
normal, Pakistani exporters may not be able to recapture lost
market outlets in the West," the report warned. It says though
efforts are under way to secure special access to Western markets,
the degree of market access that Pakistani exporters are expecting
may not materialize. The reason is the global recession is making
G-7 countries more introverted in their short-term trade outlook.
The report further says though certain promises by the US and EU
for special assistance to Pakistan have been made (and some
formalized) it will take time before this funding is actually
realized.
The report clarifies that contrary to popular belief, the debt
rescheduling agreements that have been signed since September 11
are unrelated to Pakistan's enhanced stature in the global order.
"These agreements are mere formalities following certain decisions
taken in the rescheduling talks that took place in January 2001 as
part of the IMF stabilization program," the report said.
"The approach developed by the government for discussion on
Pakistan's external debt is a significant departure from the
conventional rescheduling and entails debt re-profiling," said the
report. "This will provide Pakistan an opportunity to tailor (on a
permanent basis) its debt servicing payment in accordance with its
capacity to pay."
MOST CRITICAL DEVELOPMENT: The report says global awareness of the
Hundi system and certain steps taken in the UAE have changed the
behavior of moneychangers. It says that in October 2001 the average
kerb premium was just 0.7 per cent compared to 4.1 per cent in
September.
"Although this trend may seem temporary in nature, the threat of
international scrutiny is almost equivalent to a structural change
in the kerb market," says the report. "If international pressure
remains, it is unlikely that the kerb premium will return to pre-
October levels."
The report says that the SBP has been purchasing hard currency from
both the inter-bank and kerb markets to ensure that the rupee does
not appreciate too much. "During the month of October alone, net
purchases from the inter-bank market were $317 million, while kerb
purchases were only $79 million." The report says the purchases
from both markets are continuing.
FIRST QUARTER OVERVIEW:
1. AGRICULTURE: The SBP report says agriculture sector has shown
signs of improvement in the first quarter of this fiscal year. It
says initial estimates point towards higher than targetted
production of sugar cane, cotton and improved varieties of rice.
The report says the cotton crop is expected to be in the range of
10.2-10.5 million (ex-gin) bales against the original target of 8.7
million bales.
"In effect, Pakistan could witness its third bumper cotton crop in
three consecutive years." A table attached with the report shows
that sugarcane production could also rise to 46.5 million tons
against the original target of 38.1 million tons.
The report links the improvement in the agricultural production to
more than expected rainfall. But it makes it clear that in case of
rice "the outlook may not be as encouraging since this crop is more
dependent on canal water than rainfall."
LARGE-SCALE MANUFACTURING: The report says that large-scale
manufacturing grew by only 5.3 per cent in the first quarter of
this fiscal year against 8.1 per cent in a year ago period. It says
that all industries, with the exception of metal and engineering,
grew in nominal terms. But only few showed improved performance
over last year. The report says that in a sharp contrast to last
year, textiles slowed down despite depressed lint cotton prices at
the start of the cotton season. During the first quarter of this
fiscal year, textile sector grew by only 2.2 per cent compared to
5.1 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
"As most manufactured textile items are exported, the impact of
global recession on local industry cannot be ignored," says the
report.
"Although, the quantum of textile exports has not declined, the
spillover effects of recession are clearly evident from declining
prices of textile products in the world market." So manufacturers
curtailed production in the first quarter anticipating further
deepening of the recessionary trend.
FISCAL DEVELOPMENTS: Tax collection in the first quarter of this
fiscal year showed negative growth compared to a buoyant
performance a year-ago. Total tax collection in July-September 2001
stood at Rs77.5 billion down by Rs2.4 billion from Rs79.9
collection realized a year ago.
This was mainly due to (i) a significant decline in dutiable
imports, which in turn form the base of custom duties and sales tax
on imported goods; and (ii) large payment of refunds/rebates.
The SBP report says Rs21.1 billion were paid in refunds/rebate in
July-September 2001 against Rs15.7 billion in July-September 2000.
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20011205
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Former chief of BEL jailed for seven years
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec 4: An accountability court sentenced Rauf B. Qadri,
former chief of the Bankers' Equity Limited, to a seven-year term
for financial fruad.
Judge Dr. Qamaruddin Bohra of AC-1 also imposed a fine of Rs1
million on the former banker, who would have to undergo an
additional one-year term in case of default on the payment.
The same court had earlier ordered the release of co-accused Ashfaq
Y. Tola, former president of the BEL, after he voluntarily returned
Rs1 million.
The case against the two was lodged in 1999 by the Commercial
Banking Circle (CBC) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on a
complaint filed by Majeeduddin Khan, chief executive of the BEL. It
was alleged that the BEL had approved a lease finance facility to
the tune of Rs14.336 million to the Quality Knits (Pvt) Ltd for
leasing of machinery for five years, repayable in 20 quarterly
installments.
The lease finance facility was extended in violation of company's
policy and rules. However, subsequently the request of Quality
Knits was approved on Jan 4, 1999, by accused Rauf B. Qadri, who
was the chairman of the BEL.
Later, final settlement of Rs11.765 million was effected on the
instruction Qadri and the borrower returned the amount through two
cheques of Rs9.756 million and Rs2 million. However, only an amount
of Rs9.765 million was adjusted against the termination of the
facility, thereby causing a loss of Rs2 million to the BEL.
The cheque of Rs2 million, delivered for the termination of lease
facility, was recorded in the account of 'Miscellaneous Payable
Project'. The cheque was deposited in he BEL's account at Muslim
Commercial Bank, FTC branch, and the money was used as payment
account instead of depositing it in the collection account.
The amount was later withdrawn in cash through a crossed cheque No.
19191266 on Jan 8, 1999. The case was withdrawn on behalf of
accused Raub B. Qadri by Ashfaque Tola and they converted the same
for their own use.
"In view of my findings, I am of irresistible view that the accused
persons were entrusted with bank affairs and having dominion over
financial matters have committed criminal breach of trust and
accused Ashfaque Tola is soley responsible for falsification of the
account books of the bank, thus they are liable to be punished",
the judge observed.
The judge also disqualified for 10 years for seeking or from being
elected, chosen, appointed or nominated as a member or
representative of any public body or any statutory or local
authority or in service of Pakistan or of any province under
section 15 of the NAB Ordinance, 1999.
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20011207
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EC's 50m euros for DPs camps
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Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Dec 6: The European Commission has decided to pool in 50
million euros to help Pakistan bear the burden of Afghan refugees
and help set up refugee camps.
Speaking at a news conference, European Union Commissioner for
Development and Humanitarian Aid Paul Nielson said that under a new
five-year perspective of cooperation plan, relations with Pakistan
would be beefed up, specially in the education sector.
Mr Nielson said during the past four days, he held meetings with
President Gen Parvez Musharraf, Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar and
the Education Minister Zobaida Jalal.
To a question about reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, he said
the European Commission planned to spend 100 million euros for
humanitarian assistance in the war-ravaged country.
Welcoming the Bonn accord, he said it was a turning point for peace
in Afghanistan. Expressing commitment to the global efforts for
Afghanistan's revival, he said the European Commission would assist
in the implementation of Bonn agreement.
Back to the top
EDITORIALS & FEATURES
20011202
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Fire ! Fire !
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By Ardeshir Cowasjee
SADDAR Bazaar of old Karachi was a pleasant, calm, clean, treelined
area where, in the first half of last century, it was safe for all
to walk, to meet, to talk, to loiter. There were, of course, far
more bicycles than cars and it was a common sight to see women
strolling along under the shade of their parasols.
It was the central shopping area of Karachi in which could be
bought all that was needed for life in those distant days. For
schoolchildren, there was the famous tiny stationery store,
Makanjee Damjee, opening straight onto the street, with old
Makanjee sitting on his haunches with all his wares - exercise
books, pencils, biscuits, nuts - within easy stretching distance so
that he never had to rise to serve his customers.
Now, at the start of this century, under the recently introduced
devolution scheme, this old Saddar Bazaar area and its surroundings
have evolved into Saddar Town, the 18th town of Karachi, and its
elected nazim, Farooq Ahmed Faria, is its administrator.
Since partition Saddar has radically changed. It is now chock-a-
block with shops, departmental stores, and street vendors who have
encroached upon the pavements. Traffic is so congested, there are
so many people, that it is difficult to either move, hear or
breathe in the rush, the noise and the pollution. Shopping malls
have sprouted up all over the place contravening all building and
town planning rules and regulations. The entire area, with its
congestion and illegal structures, is now a veritable fire trap.
We in Karachi have all read about the recent fire in the monstrous
mall, Karim Centre. After the fire, a non-governmental organization
was asked to carry out a survey and its report makes alarming
reading. Those citizens of Karachi who are concerned about their
own safety and that of their fellow citizens may read on.
Karim Centre is built on four plots in the pre-partition Saddar
Bazar area straddling Zaibunissa Street (old Elphinstone Street)
and Abdullah Haroon Road (old Victoria Road) near the Post Office.
In the mid-1970s, Dedhi Builders had construction plans approved
from the Karachi Development Authority for ground plus five floors
(with basement parking) on Plots 3/2, 4 and 5/SB-7, and ground plus
three floors (without parking) on part of Plot 6/SB-7.
With its atrocious quality of construction, poor circulation
planning, sagging floor slabs, excess floors, and its permanently
temporary wiring, the project (as all other such shopping malls)
has evolved into a disaster zone. Virtually the approximately
300,000 square feet of Karim Centre has been built in excess of the
approved plans and stands ground plus six storeys high. All the
mandatory parking spaces have been converted and let as tailors'
sweatshops. The plethora of substandard shops, all less than 100 sq
feet in area, on the seven floors, with their mass of inflammable
ware - cloth, all extending into the passageways and balconies,
festooned internally and externally with loose electric wiring, has
ensured that this shopping mall is a prime fire-trap.
Just after midnight on November 20, while workers were preparing
for the anticipated Ramzan-Eid rush, disaster struck. Some 150
shops on the first, second and third floors were gutted. The poorly
equipped and inadequately manned fire brigades of the city arrived
in due course and did their best to fight the conflagration whilst
rushing around Karachi the entire day trying to find the non-
existent hydrants and water. Luck was with the trapped people in
the building. They managed to get to the roof or on to the
balconies, shouted for help and were rescued. It is amazing that
there were no fatalities.
Despite the fact that the apparent fire-distress 'signals' in the
concrete slabs of the affected areas were noted after the fire by
the preliminary inspection team of the Karachi Building Control
Authority, the faults have not been repaired. All have been
suppressed and no action has been taken, or is planned to be taken,
by the Sindh government's regulatory bodies. The burnt structural
members are being hurriedly painted over, and the shops are being
recommissioned without any structural repair work, or improvement
in the hazardous electric wiring, so that they can reopen for the
pre-Eid shopping spree. Petrol generators, begging for disaster,
continue to chug away in all congested corridors.
Although KDA recognized thirty years ago the illegal building
proclivities of the builders involved, to date they have not been
warned or penalized, nor have any of their projects, all equally
dangerous, been demolished. They have unsavoury and political
contacts, and during the 1980s and '90s managed to construct
numerous other unauthorized buildings, including multi-storeyed
flats/shops in Jamshed Quarters and Garden East that are counted
among KBCA's infamous '260 sealed buildings' of 1996.
This week, the KBCA proclaimed in a prominent advertisement in this
newspaper: "The allegation with regard to unfettered, unauthorized
construction in the city is not wholly true. KBCA makes
considerable effort to promptly take cognizance of all such
deviations/violations whenever these are observed." (Interestingly
the KBCA admits to the allegations being somewhat though not
'wholly' true.) Similar 'cognizance' was taken by KDA and KBCA as
far back as 1975. But 25 years down the line, Karim Centre's
illegalities stand tall and prominent as a badge of shame on the
local government of this city.
The KBCA has also 'taken cognizance' (but no lawful action against
the illicit project, the criminal builder, or its own colluding
officials) of the under-construction and 140 per cent overbuilt
Capital Centre next door to Karim Centre. The mandatory parking
spaces and fire-escape stairs have not been provided by the
builder, nor have any of the fire-fighting and fire-resistant
structural requirements demanded by law been met. The building is
now being progressively occupied without the mandatory KBCA
'Occupancy Certificate' having been issued and KBCA is taking no
action.
In blatant violation of applicable laws, and with the whole-hearted
cooperation of the concerned government agencies (including the
Sindh EPA, the KDA/KBCA, Sindh Board of Revenue, the Sindh
government's electric inspector, the KESC), a large part of Saddar
Town is being surreptitiously converted into crowded, over-built,
unhygienic, fire-hazardous, polluted structures, housing garment
factories, gold-smith furnaces/workshops, and other semi-industrial
concerns.
In 1994, a major explosion in a goldsmith's workshop on Shahrah-e-
Iraq killed eight people. Frequent fires and explosions over the
years from ever-increasing hazardous misuse of commercial and
residential premises have cost numerous lives. The situation is
exacerbated by appalling wiring installations and dangerous petrol-
generators. This week the local press highlighted the perilous
situation at Sarah Hotel on Parr Street, which is being converted
into a sarafa bazaar (gold-smiths' bazaar), the shops having their
unauthorized workshops and furnaces (fire ?) in the same building.
Other commercial areas in the city are no better. The recent fire
in Khaliq Cloth Market at Liaquatabad is mute testimony to the
apathy and collusion of the statutory agencies set up to protect
the public interest. The Clifton Road hosts numerous illegally
commercialized and constructed buildings, with congested passages,
flammable sale goods, dangerous permanent temporary wiring, and
with no fire-escape or fire-fighting facilities.
The Building Regulations of 1979 state: "The requirements for
providing space about buildings are governed by hygienic and fire-
fighting considerations." In order to ensure adequate space for
fire-fighting, the rescue of persons endangered by fire, and access
for fire brigades to the rear of buildings, there must be fire-
stairs, compulsory open spaces and other such facilities.
Periodically, the 'friends' Karachi's builders have managed to make
in the Sindh government suggest bartering away these non-
implemented mandatory requirements in return for due compensation
for regularization. What can the citizens expect? Can the local
government of this city be expected to graduate from 'taking
cognizance' to 'taking action'? Can it be expected to actually
implement the law? Can it be expected to sacrifice the 'noora-
kushti' that generates crores of rupees in illegal kickbacks to
bureaucrats, other servants of the public, and politicians? Can it
be expected to uphold the fundamental rights of the citizens of
Karachi?
The Saddar Town nazim, Farooq Ahmed Faria, has promised to improve
the state of affairs.
A tall order indeed. We wish him luck. He will soon be tested.
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20011207
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Now for a Loya Jirga for Pakistan
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By Ayaz Amir
With Afghanistan being purged slowly from our system - it is
noticeable how both the anguish and enthusiasm set off by the
American onslaught on Afghanistan are draining away - it is time to
turn our attention to the state of the stables in Pakistan.
But before proceeding any further a small note of gratitude is in
order. Leaving aside the question of whether their war on
Afghanistan has been just or not, we have to be thankful to the
Americans for curing us of this particular obsession. If September
11 and its aftermath had not occurred, we would still have been
stuck with the Taliban and all the myths and half-truths which have
defined our Afghan policy these past 20 years.
Like all new converts to a cause we are quite gung-ho about our
born-again liberalism. But let us not forget where the original
impulse came from. We thus owe a vote of thanks to Colin Powell for
putting the matter starkly in his now-famous telephone call to
Pakistan's commander-in-chief and supreme leader. He left us no
room for waffling.
To say, as I have foolishly been doing since September 11, that we
should have behaved with greater dignity, or a greater regard for
national independence, is like crying for the moon. Our
indebtedness and the guilt complex arising from our support of the
Taliban left us with no real choice except to swallow, with what
grace we could muster, whatever the Americans wanted to thrust down
our throats.
But there is more to it than this. We have been a dependent power
since our birth, our leaders more than our people always relying
upon external props to shore up the nation's defences or its sense
of self-esteem. This will not change unless two things happen: (1)
we get out of India's shadow and stop seeing everything through its
prism; and (2) for a change we start learning to stand on our feet.
Even nations far poorer than us do not forsake the requirements of
national honour so readily as we do. Whether our struggle for
independence wasn't hard enough, or because of something in the air
of the subcontinent, we have been cursed with a leadership style
whose arrogance at home is perfectly balanced by its obsequiousness
abroad. I can't say what precisely is the sense of insecurity which
lies behind this attitude.
The Afghans have a truly devastated homeland on their hands but
even in the midst of all their misery they conduct themselves with
greater self-assurance than we do. It took the UN, and US handlers
working from the sidelines, nine exhausting days to seal a
settlement between the contending Afghan factions in Bonn. Consider
for a moment if this had been a conference to settle Pakistan's
affairs. Some leader would have been satisfied with a green card
for his offspring, another with scholarships for his sons and
daughters while someone else would have aimed higher and angled for
an arms deal down the road. In any case, it would have taken at the
outside two and not nine days to sign an accord.
But these musings aside, the Bonn accord may work or come unstuck
when it is tested against Afghan realities. But at least it holds
the promise of a "broad-based" government for Afghanistan two and a
half years from now. The question that strikes the Pakistani mind
is, when are we going to get a broad-based government for
ourselves?
At the moment we have a government whose only justification in
democratic theory rests upon two shaky premises: a Supreme Court
verdict and what General Musharraf claims as the support of the
'silent majority'. But with the supreme commander saying that
although national elections will be held he, in the national
interest, will continue as president, the future promises to be no
different from the past. At this rate, we might find Afghanistan
outstripping us in the race for democracy.
This issue is hardly academic. People keep asking what is the
Pakistani problem. One does not have to look into the Dead Sea
scrolls for an answer. Quite simply it has been our inability to
create and sustain a stable polity. What has been the national
record? Two and a half decades of wobbly civilian rule matched by
two and a half decades of disastrous militarism, with institutions,
as a consequence, destroyed and the nation bereft of a sense of
direction. Is there a Pakistani dream? If there is, what does it
mean? It is not easy getting the right answers.
Every now and then brilliant economists suggest that we need to
invest in education and our manpower to attract foreign investment.
Investing in education is a political decision and can only come
when an enduring political order is in place - an order committed
to long-term policies, spread over 25-50 years, and not to the
short-term needs, such as those of survival and legitimacy, of
insecure leaders. The key, therefore, is politics and how we manage
our affairs. Everything else - whether spending more on education,
getting money from overseas or enhancing exports - comes
afterwards.
Instability in the political sphere, therefore, is Pakistan's bane,
destroying continuity of effort and breeding frustration and
cynicism in its wake. It is often said Pakistanis are compulsive
critics who should be more positive in their outlook. Positive
about what? The corruption of their leaders? The incompetence on
display by successive relays of mandarins, politicians and
generals? The Republic's history is an invitation to rebellion or
apathy. A positive outlook, the kind beloved of officialdom or
retired salary men, hardly fits into such a dialectic.
Not the governing class which has proved its bankruptcy thrice over
but the common people of the four provinces (and I daresay Kashmir)
are keeping Pakistan aloft and allowing it to brave the many storms
which have beset its path. But how long must things continue in
this fashion? When will we set aside the theatrical accompaniments
of ad-hocism and learn to conduct our affairs on the strength of
institutions rather than the whim or uncertain competence of
individuals?
The cult of the strongman, or even the benevolent dictator, has had
its day in Pakistan. Repeated experiments along this line - from
the time of the first strongman, Ayub Khan, down to the present -
have destroyed the country's elan and vitality, the legacy of
military rule being sign-posted with unnecessary wars and foolish
adventures. As a result, we can't stand up to our reflection in the
mirror. How can we stand up to the US and its bullying?
A grand retreat, therefore, is called for. Not from the great game
as played in Afghanistan - the US having taken care of that
particular line in adventure travelling - but from the wide, open
spaces of Pakistani politics. There is no Colin Powell who will
help the Pakistani military to come to this decision. Nor can the
'silent majority' do anything in this regard. The 'silent majority'
is living up to its name, choosing to remain silent under all
circumstances. This decision must come from within.
The conductor's baton is in the supreme commander's hands. It is he
who must orchestrate the new score in which lies the country's hope
for the future. Between self-interest and the common good it is
only he who can decide - the tribunes of the people, Benazir and
Nawaz Sharif, being busy with other things. The Beards, and pundits
such as myself, are smarting from their Afghan wounds (not that
pundits matter in any game of power). Musharraf has the field to
himself to do with it as he pleases.
But what do the stars say? The Agra summit and the destruction of
the Taliban have been to Musharraf what the French defeat in World
War Two was to Hitler: his self-confidence has been bolstered. From
this high horse it will not be easy stepping down.
All oligarchs think they are the best definers and arbiters of the
national interest. This is their occupational hazard: a mounting
suspicion of all opposition and a growing belief in their
infallibility. How many times have we not been here before? An
experimental lab for would-be saviours: for much of its history
this is what Pakistan has been. Surely some witch's spell is at
work here. For how else to explain our failure to break out of this
grind?
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20011208
-------------------------------------------------------------------
A return to relevance
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Irfan Husain
Benazir Bhutto's recent statements in India have predictably
triggered a flurry of critical letters and statements in the press.
Her new-found desire for peace between India and Pakistan has
ruffled the feathers of pro-establishment types here.
But this brief blip aside, Pakistan's two-time prime minister (and
perpetual claimant to the post) has virtually disappeared from the
political radar. Similarly, the Sharif family was in the spotlight
for a day or so last week only because the ex-PM's sister-in-law
returned from exile in Saudi Arabia and embarrassed the government.
Again, this intrusion into the public consciousness ended with Mr
Shahbaz Sharif's wife and daughters being swiftly put on a plane to
Jeddah.
This about sums up the extent of the contribution of Pakistan's two
major political leaders to the public discourse in these critical
days. While Nawaz Sharif has been prevented from sending us his
pearls of wisdom from his comfortable exile by the terms of his
deal with General Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto's support for the
government has been qualified by her self-serving demands for an
early return to civilian rule. Meanwhile, Muslim League rebels have
distinguished themselves with their incoherent stand on this
government's support of the American-led coalition.
The only politicians to be clear in their stand in this crisis have
been the leaders of the extremist religious groups who have opposed
the military regime's position tooth and nail. Even though we may
disagree with their support of Osama bin Laden and the taliban, at
least they have not waffled about it: in public rallies and
statements, they have been vociferous in their condemnation of the
government's policies, and their supporters have flocked to their
banners.
Followers of our two mainstream parties (and sundry Muslim League
fragments), on the other hand, have been confused and demoralized
by their leaders' lack of clarity and coherence. There has been no
attempt among our politicians to analyze the situation and give
their party members a direction and a focus as the nation has
attempted to come to terms with the momentous events next door.
Neither of the two contenders for power has in any way attempted to
help the refugees who have fled their country in the wake of the
on-going bombing. No discussions or seminars have been organized to
debate the issues.
In other words, our two major political parties have been exposed
yet again as redundant and irrelevant to the situation we confront
today. While the MQM has been more forthright in its support for
the government's position, its earlier bizarre boycott of the local
bodies elections has marginalized it still further. Also, in a
situation full of ironies, Altaf Hussain's condemnation of
terrorism from his London home takes the cake for sheer gall. The
British government's odd decision to grant him citizenship will no
doubt serve as encouragement to others of his ilk.
Given the pathetic role of our politicians, the road back to
democracy seems a bumpy one. Even before September 11, the
Pakistani public was weary of its leaders.
Their endless scams, their self-serving histrionics and their rank
opportunism had not endeared them to us, and this is why we
accepted yet another round of military rule without protest. And
now that the national and provincial elections are less than a year
away, there is some concern about the return of the same
discredited politicians.
So far, Benazir Bhutto is persona non grata with the military-led
government, and Nawaz Sharif is unlikely to risk upsetting his
Saudi hosts who brokered the deal sending him into exile.
In Ms Bhutto's absence, the PPP has retained its unity while the
PML has splintered without Nawaz Sharif to hold it together in
these difficult days. But the Muslim League has hardly ever been a
party of the opposition, and its post-independence history is
replete with shady characters running off with its name in their
sleazy quest for power. This time around has been no different with
the Chaudris of Gujrat being easily persuaded by the military
rulers to ditch Nawaz Sharif.
As a reward, they were not put through the accountability grinder,
and were given all kinds of help by the generals in the recent
local body polls. It is wonderful how a whiff of power can change
loyalties.
With the religious extremists in disarray because of the debacle of
the Taliban and the mainstream parties either split or demoralized
or both, General Musharraf is in a strong position to dictate terms
and make the rules that suit him. And as he has declared his
intention to continue as president well after the elections, it is
clear that he is not going to be a figurehead. Chances are that he
will be very much the dominant partner, exercising control over
defence and foreign affairs while the elected Prime Minister looks
after the social sector and the economy.
The latter, however, will not be the PM's exclusive preserve as the
president will take more than a passing interest in the subject.
Under such a dispensation, it will not be long before tensions
surface. Even somebody like Junejo, elected on the basis of a non-
party election, found it difficult to toe the line. How much more
difficult this cohabitation will be for an elected politician with
political debts to pay off, constituents to satisfy and high
expectations to meet, can be easily imagined.
The intention of this analysis is not to question the need for
democracy. To me, at least, a democratic dispensation is the sine
qua non of progress and decent government. The fact that our
politicians have disappointed us consistently is at least partly
due to the constant interference they have had to endure from the
army and our plethora of intelligence agencies.
This time, it is certain that the military's role will be
institutionalized, and it is possible that the system will be more
robust as a result. But once clear prerequisite for power-sharing
is that the army must be seen as neutral, and both major contenders
for power should have a level playing field. Unfortunately, these
conditions have not been met. There is a clear tilt towards the
rump faction of the Muslim League controlled by the Gujrat
Chaudris, even though the PPP has staged a dramatic turn-around
after its shattering defeat in the last national elections.
It is high time our politicians showed us that they are still
relevant to the situation and can make democracy work in Pakistan.
SPORTS
20011208
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Waqar and Mudassar get extensions
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Samiul Hasan
KARACHI, Dec 7: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) gave Waqar Younis
and Mudassar Nazar extensions until the home series against the
West Indies.
"The PCB has decided to retain Waqar Younis as captain and Mudassar
Nazar as coach until the home series against the West Indies,"
chairman of the PCB Lt Gen Tauqir Zia told Dawn from Lahore.
Waqar was initially named captain until the series against New
Zealand but got an automatic extension for next month's Bangladesh
tour after the Black Caps cancelled a scheduled tour because of
Sept 11 attacks.
Mudassar was last month appointed coach for the Sharjah triangular
series and for next month's tour to Bangladesh.
"Although the combination of Waqar and Mudassar has worked in just
one tournament, it appears to be a nice pair. The two deserve
extension purely on merit," the PCB chairman said.
Waqar's men comprehensively defeated Sri Lanka in the Sharjah
final, which, ironically, was Pakistan's first international
assignment since August.
"The two united their boys and played professionally (in Sharjah).
The performance of the team reflected that there was some purpose
and planning. "But the most enterprising part is that they played
like a team which is so very crucial to our build up for the World
Cup," Tauqir said.
Tauqir said Waqar's tenure up to the World Cup depended on his
fitness and form but added that he would talk to Mudassar before
awarding him a 12-month contract. "If Waqar keeps himself fit, he
remains our top priority.
"Mudassar's contract with the PCB expires in February. I would
certainly like to have him but before that certain modalities have
to be finalized. "I will discuss the subject with him at the right
time."
The general, however, dismissed the return of England-born and
South Africa-based Richard Pybus. "He is presently not in the
running because of political uncertainty in the region," he said.
But when pointed out that situation seems to have eased out after
the West Indies agreed to tour Pakistan, Tauqir said: "True, but
Richard is low on our priority list."
Pybus coached Pakistan for two weeks before returning home in the
wake of terrorist attacks on Washington and New York. However,
insiders in the board say Pybus' demand of full authority and
objections on the working of the PCB has irked the officials who
have decided in principle to fall back on a local man.
Mudassar, besides the current Pakistan side, has the support of
some of the best cricketers, including Imran Khan.
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20011208
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Shoaib cleared again, but not yet by ICC
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sports Correspondent
LAHORE, Dec 7: The University of Western Australia has reiterated
its earlier findings regarding Shoaib Akhtar's bowling action
calling it peculiar anatomical characteristic that leads to the
erroneous perception of throwing.
Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman said that the report of the
university had been received by the board in which nothing was new.
Shoaib Akhtar's bowling action was reported for the third time
during the Sharjah tri-series earlier last month by South African
match referee Denis Lindsay.
On it, the International Cricket Council had advised the PCB to
hire Michael Holding for rectifying Shoaib's action and to submit a
report by Feb 7. However the PCB decided to send the footage of
Shoaib's bowling to the University of Western Australia again which
had already examined the case and cleared him with a report that
the bowling arm of the controversial pacer was deformed.
Announcing the next action of the PCB its director Munawar Ahmad
Rana said that the board was considering the fresh report of the
university and was in touch with the ICC to proceed with the matter
in a logical and amicable way, so that Shoaib Akhtar could continue
to bowl without any further undue pressure as soon as possible.
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20011202
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Wasim denies he was under pressure
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sports Correspondent
LAHORE, Dec 1: Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram has denied that
he was under government pressure to lose a World Cup match against
Bangladesh in 1999.
He was recording his statement before the one-man judicial
commission headed by Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari which is
investigating the match -fixing allegation against Pakistan team
for deliberately losing two World Cup matches, against Bangladesh
and India.
Wasim, who was leading the team, refuted the charges that he bowed
down to any pressure from the government in order to let Bangladesh
get Test status.
Wasim said though the Pakistan team was stronger than Bangladesh,
they lost the match only due to over confidence. He said that two
run-outs, one of Saeed Anwar and other of Azhar Mahmood in that
match were not deliberate but were due to misjudgments.
Wasim denied that his assets were beyond his income and that he had
earned money through match fixing. He said that cricket was his
lone financial source and his entire income was on record.
He also refuted Sarfraz Nawaz's statement that he had advised him
(Akram) on the day of match against Bangladesh to avoid a defeat
because there was hue and cry in the public that Pakistan would
lose it. He said that he talked to Sarfraz Nawaz last time some
five years ago.
Reacting to Majid Khan's statement recorded before the commission,
he said that Majid must give strong evidence for accusations
against the Pakistan team.
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20011204
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Pakistani appointed ACC offical
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sports Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Dec 3: Zakir Hussain Syed has been appointed Development
Manager for Asia by the Asian Cricket Council. His responsibilities
would involve promotion and development of cricket in Asia,
especially in the non-Test playing countries with greater emphasis
on institution based development.
Zakir was reportedly the unanimous choice of the chief executives
of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, chairman of the Asian
Cricket Foundation, Jagmohan Dalmiya and others.
The ACC had earlier appointed Roger Binny (India), Rumesh Ratnayake
(Sri Lanka) and Iqbal Sikander (Pakistan) as development officers
with proper country-wise distribution of work.
The International Cricket Council has released a sum of $6.5
million to the ACC for a two-year period for cricket development
with a commitment for a similar amount every two years until 2007.
The amount is 50 per cent net profit of ICC knockout tournaments,
which has been accepted as the rightful share of the Asian region.
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20011204
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bi-annual league system to be introduced
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Imran Naeem Ahmad
ISLAMABAD, Dec 3: The Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) is to
introduce a bi-annual league system for players involving promotion
and relegation by February next year.
Sqd. Ldr Sajid Waheed, Secretary of the PSF speaking to Dawn said
that the new system of play would keep the players on their toes in
a competitive environment.
According to the plan initiated by PSF president Air Chief Marshal
Mushaf Ali Mir the league would initially see a senior team and a
junior one comprising eight players each playing against one other.
Explaining the system, Sajid said that the top players would play
with those at a lower tier and in the end points would be
calculated. "Those achieving a set number of points would gain
promotion while those in the top rung not making the grade would be
relegated."
Sajid said that in the league the senior players would also play
the promoted juniors like those in the under-19 age group. "This
would help the juniors to break away from the age bracket and give
them confidence."
Sajid explained that the league would be played on the pattern of
those in Malaysia and Singapore. "These countries even invite
foreign players to compete." But the secretary said no foreigner
would be asked to play in the Pakistan league, the base of which
would eventually be extended. "Soon we may have 16 to 20 players
with two senior and two junior sides."
"The league system would also help us identify the top four senior
and as many junior players without going through the process of
selection trials."
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20011204
-------------------------------------------------------------------
New rules to be tried after World Cup
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sports Reporter
KARACHI, Dec 3: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has
decided not to have changes in the game's rules until next year's
World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, an official said.
Islahuddin Siddique, a member of the Hockey Rules Board, who
attended the meeting of the Board in Brussels, said the one of the
three trial rules would also be tried after the World Cup.
"The rule to be tried after World Cup will be enhancing of the
goal-scoring area. It will be tried during an international
tournament after the World Cup," he said.
The three rules tried were, enhancing of the scoring area to 23-
metre, presence of only eight defenders inside 25-yard line during
the field play, and only eight defenders during the penalty
corners.
The FIH had asked 28 countries for the feedback of the three rules
to be tried. Five countries have submitted their recommendations so
far, including Pakistan, India, the Netherlands, Germany, and
Australia.
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